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THE 



HOUSE WE LIVE IN: 



HOW TO KEEP IT IN ORDER; 



THE EXPERIENCE OF SEVENTY YEARS' SUCCESSFUL 
PRACTICE OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION, 

EAST AND WEST, 

IN 

PLAIN ENGLISH FOR THE PEOPLE. 



BY 

Drs. Parker Sedgwick and S. P. Sedgwick, 

Wheaton, Illinois, 

AUTHORS OF " SCARLET FEVER, DIPHTHERIA, CHOLERA INFANTUM, TYPHOID AND 
TYPHUS FEVERS, AND HOW TO CURE THEM." 



3 0CI: , 



d 



CHICAGO: 

CHURCH, GOODMAN AND DONNELLEY, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS. 

1869. 



D 



* 



A 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, 

By Parker Sedgwick and S. P. Sedgwick, 

In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. 




Bound by 

Western Book Manufacturing Co., 

Chicago. 



DEDICATION. 



To the good people of Bloomingdale and vicinity, with 
whom we have lived, and for whom we have prescribed for 
more than twenty-two years — many of whom have become 
attached to us and we to them, by having together passed 
through the dark waters of affliction. To those who aided us 
when we needed aid ; who comforted us when we were 
afflicted ; who were our friends when enemies would have 
destroyed us ; who have had confidence in our ability, under 
God, to aid them when they were struggling with pain and 
disease ; — in short, to all whom we have loved and who have 
loved us, this work is dedicated, hoping it will be the means 
of continuing those sentiments of respect, esteem, confidence 
and love which have formed the bond of union between us 
for so many years, and that the # golden chain of sympathy 
may continue untarnished until time with us shall be no more. 

S. P. SEDGWICK. 
Whbaton, III., July, 1868. 



NOTICE TO THE READER. 



Foe the publication of this work, I alone am responsible. 
I have thought for several years that the successful manner 
in which my father, Parker Sedgwick, M.D., and myself 
have ever treated several diseases, considered by all authors 
and the medical faculty as necessarily fatal, in many malig- 
nant cases, should be known to the public, and that it would 
be wrong to withhold that knowledge. I was not so clear 
about the way in which this should be done. The profession, 
as a whole, rejected it with contempt. I have no unkind 
feelings towards any of them ; I know the world is full of 
humbugs ; I only regret that they reject the only known 
means for curing, with certainty, those terrible diseases, Scar- 
let Fever, Diphtheria, Cholera Infantum, etc., etc. I hope a 
confiding public will not suffer on account of their prejudice 
(I will not call it by a harsher name). 

I have, as will be seen on another page, taken means to 
secure the benefit of years of study and labor, and offer it to 
you at a price bringing it within the reach of all. Clergymen 
who live by their profession, and indigent persons, will be 
furnished with the book at cost of publication. 

At my solicitation, my father has assisted me in the pre- 
paration of the work. He has written articles, given the 
history of cases, and described particular diseases at my 
request. Every article written by him is signed " P. S." 
For every thing else in the work, I alone am responsible.* 
It has at least the merit of being original. It is the result of 

* For the list of poisons, I am indebted to Dr. Dunglison's Medical 
and Surgical Dictionary. 



6 NOTICE TO THE EEADEE. 

observation and experience of two physicians whose success 
has not been surpassed by any in the country. I practiced 
medicine constantly more than twenty years, and I do but 
state a fact when I say that I did not lose twenty patients, 
young and old, in that time. I believe father's success has 
been equally marked. I will not deny that I feel proud of 
this record.* 

I call your attention to the certificates of friends, patrons 
and acquaintances, in the back part of the book. These are 
only a part of the many that have been freely offered, but 
they are from persons whose character and position in society 
are a sufficient guarantee that they speak only what they 
know to be true. 

* When there is any disagreement between father and myself in the 
treatment of any particular disease, the plan of both is given. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Dedication and Notice to Reader. Patent and Specifications. S. P. 
Sedgwick alone responsible for the sentiments expressed in this 
work in reference to Physicians, Quackery, Patent Medicines, 
etc., etc. Reasons why the work was undertaken. Astonishing 
success in treating Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Cholera Infantum, 
Typhoid Fever, etc. Rejection of knowledge by the Medical 
Profession. Treatment of certain diseases patented,' but each 
purchaser of this book secures the right. Clergymen and indi- 
gent persons furnished with the book at cost. Parker Sedgwick, 
M.D., writes many of the chapters by request of the author ; his 
articles marked " P. S." The work the result of over seventy 
years' constant observation and practice. Does not lose twenty 
patients in twenty years. Parker Sedgwick equally successful. . 3 

CHAPTER I. 

What is not the object of this work. What is hoped from it : Enable 
the reader to select a good Physician. To distinguish dangerous 
diseases from those that are not. To prescribe for all ordinary 
diseases intelligently. To prepare various medicines and avoid 
the use of secret remedies. Several malignant diseases easily 
cured. Patent secured. Chronic diseases. Written in plain 
English. A perfect family physician in itself. Taking care of 
the sick. Food for sick. Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Cholera 
Infantum 17 

CHAPTER II. 

Dangerous ground. Mystery of Medical science. Dead language. 
Consultations secret. Ignorance covered up. Medical societies. 
Extortionate charges. Live and let Live. Proscription. Inven- 
tions must be given away. Effects of putting up secret remedies. 



8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Quackery. Dr. Jayne and his remedies more reliable than 
poor physicians. Reasons why patent medicines succeed. Edu- 
cate the people rather than keep them in ignorance. Drs. Jayne 
and Ayer ; reasons why they succeed. Many venders of " patent 
medicines" ignorant of the nature of disease. Why they are some 
times apparently successful. It is not strange that the people 
patronize patent medicines. Astonishment of the profession. 
Nine out of ten young physicians do more harm than good. A 
good physician can not be too highly prized. How to distinguish 
the good from the bad. People not blameworthy for buying 
secret medicines or employing quacks. Extortion of medicine 
venders. Dishonesty of some physicians. Discouragements of 
honest physicians. Regular Faculty ; their egotism and selfish- 
ness. Ignorance of many malignant diseases. Discovery of 
remedies used for fifty years. Wonderful success. Dr. Van 
Dorn. Hon. W. W. Sedgwick. Efforts to impart knowledge to 
the profession. Medical journals. Keepers of the profession. 
Fair dealing. Inventors entitled to the benefit of their inven- 
tions. Reasons why they should be given away. Dr. Sawyer 
and his book. Originality of our treatment. Objectors to patents 
in Surgery and Medicine. Their arguments not valid. Qualifi- 
cations for a physician 21 

CHAPTER III. 

Why there are so many different schools of Medicine, and what they 
are. Reason : Ignorance. Hippocrates' doctrine. Symptoms. 
Prescribing for symptoms only. Reasons why Scarlet Fever and 
other diseases, when malignant, have been considered incurable. 
The cause of those diseases learned. Thompsonian or Steam, and 
Botanic practice. Superior knowledge of educated physicians. 
United States Dispensatory. Eclectic system: claims of its 
authors humbuggery. Every educated, honest physician a genu- 
ine Eclectic. Self-conceit of Professors in Medical Schools. The 
power of nature to heal herself. Young doctors: Their disap- 
pointments. Something new every day. Bible directions in 
reference to disease never to be disregarded. Alcohol as a medi- 
cine : Case showing its importance. Clay and spittle as an eye- 
salve. Hydropathy or Water Cure. Use of water in disease not 
new. Reasons why it should not be used by ignorant people. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9 

Water for hare-lip, etc. Death caused by cold water. Results of 
this practice. The truth in reference to it. Homoeopathy : Like 
cures Like. Inert agents. The true doctrine avowed by the most 
successful. Miscellaneous doctors. Pretenders. Charlatans. Con- 
fidence men. Advertisers. Good Samaritan. The way they 
succeed. Traveling doctors. Bone setters. Wonder workers. 
A good rule. The way to stop all this. Another class very dis- 
interested. " Sands of life nearly run out." Hints in regard to 
the choice of a physician. Young doctors allowed to brag 38 

CHAPTER IV. 

How to feel the pulse. The pulse a sure guide. Quick pulse not 
necessarily frequent. The tongue : Its condition in health, and 
its various conditions as an indicator of disease. Effects of locality 
upon disease. Danger of neglecting to take this into account 
when there has been a change of residence. Nursing the sick. In 
many cases a good nurse or good nursing of more importance 
than medicine. Beef tea. Beef broth. Chicken tea. Chicken 
broth. Water gruel. Corn starch gruel. Bread coffee. Corn, 
coffee. Wine whey. Gelatine. Calves' head jelly. Stimulant 
nourishment for very weak persons. Cooling drinks 5T 

* 

CHAPTER V. 

Fever. What Fever consists of. How they are distinguished. 
Intermittent Fever. Remittent Fever. Treatment. How to 
prevent a return of Intermittent Fever. Typhoid Fever. Typhus 
Fever. Treatment of Typhus Fever and Typhoid. Treatment 
of Fever by S. P. S. Case by P. S. of a patient sick with Fever, 
almost killed with bad treatment, finally recovers. Scarlet Fever. 
Simple Scarlet Fever. Malignant Scarlet Fever. Canker Rash. 
Purid Sore Throat. Cause of Scarlet Fever. Successful method 
of treating not known to the profession. Misplaced intermittent. 
Wrong policy ; treating diseases by name merely. Yellow Fever. 
Nervous Fever * 69* 



10 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI 

Inflammatory diseases. Inflammation of the Head. Inflammation 
of the Eyes. Chronic Inflammation of the Eyes. Case of Chronic 
Inflammation of the Eyes. Inflammation of the Lungs and 
Pleurisy. How to distinguish the different varieties. Typhoid 
Pleurisy most common in this climate. Case of Pleurisy with 
Inflammatory Fever. Case of Pleurisy with Typhus Fever. 
Case of Pleurisy with Typhoid Fever. Case of Pleurisy with 
Bilious Fever. Sequel of Pleurisy. Another case. Empyema 
sequel of Pleurisy. Inflammation of the Lungs and Pleurisy. 
Inflammation of the Bowels. Second case of Inflammation of the 
Bowels. Third case of Inflammation of the Bowels. Peritonitis, 
or Inflammation of the sac covering the Bowels. Inflammation of 
the Stomach. Case of Inflammation of Stomach. Inflammation 
of the Bladder. A case of misplaced intermittent treatment of 
Inflammation of the Bladder. Inflammation of the Kidneys. 
Acute Rheumatism. Treatment. A violent case of Acute 
Rheumatism. Thompsonian Practice. Humbuggery. Mumps. 
Another case of Inflammatory Rheumatism with a sequel, show- 
ing how the people are imposed upon. Treatment of Inflamma- 
tory Rheumatism by S. P. S. Erysipelas. Treatment of Ery- 
sipelas. Epidemic Erysipelas. How a drunkard learned a doctor 
how to cure it. Sciatica or Sciatic Rheumatism. Case of Sciatica 
which had been called Spinal Affection. Treatment of Sciatica 
by S. P. S. Chronic Rheumatism 90 

chapter yn. 

Diseases of the Liver. Mistakes in reference to them. Hypo. Tor- 
por. Interesting case of stoppage of Bile. Some experience in a 
new country. Happy results. Calomel given often when it pro- 
duces very ruinous effects. Torpid Liver not cured by medicines 
that reduce the system. Redundancy of Bile. Bilious Diarrhoea. 
Gall Stones, or Stoppage of Bile. Tobacco as a remedy. Cancer 
of the Liver. Abscess of the Liver. Disease of the Liver often 
mistaken for consumption and heart disease. Jaundice. Treat- 
ment. Total want of Bile. Case of total want of Bile. Calomel 
not the remedy. Case of Liver Complaint. Disease of the 
General Health. Case of disease of the General Health. Dys- 
pepsia. Another case of disease of the General Health 140 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 11 

CHAPTER VIII 

Hysterics. Delirium Tremens. Tetanus Trismus, or Lockjaw. 
Angina Pectoris — a suffocating pain of the breast. Incontinence 
of Urine, Retention of Urine. Sick Headache. Treatment of 
Sick Headache 165 



CHAPTER IX. 

Asthma: Treatment. Whooping Cough : Simple treatment. Night- 
mare. St. Vitus' Dance {Chorea Sancti Viti). Case cured by 
quinine bitters. Apoplexy. Case of Apoplexy cured. Apoplexy 
may be caused by debility. Epilepsy. Case of Epilepsy. Second 
case of Epilepsy. Third case of Epilepsy. New and successful 
mode of treating Epilepsy. Colic. Hard to distinguish Colic 
from Inflammation of the Bowels. Bilious Colic. Painters' or 
Lead Colic. Tic Douloureux, or Neuralgia. Case of Neuralgia. 
Often caused by marsh effluvia : Then to be treated as a mis- 
placed Intermittent. Palsy (Paralysis.) Diabetes 175 



CHAPTER X. 

Diarrhoea. Case of Chronic Diarrhoea. Camp Diarrhoea. Asiatic 
Cholera. Treatment. Dr. Delaney's treatment. Cholera Mor- 
bus. Treatment of Cholera Morbus 200 



CHAPTER XL 

Burns and Scalds. " Taking out the fire. " Case of Scalding. Treat- 
ment of Burns and Scalds by P. S 215 



CHAPTER XH. 

Exanthemata (Diseases of the Skin). Quinine as a remedy. Iodide 
of Potassium. Measles. Case sequel of Measles. Roseola. Small 
Pox (Variola.) Modified Small Pox. Cow Pox. How to Vac- 
cinate. Chicken Pox (Varicella.) Warm bath : When useful. 
Nettle Rash (Urticaria) 220 



12 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
v 

Diseases of Females. Signs of Pregnancy. Abortion. How to 
avoid Abortion. Diseases of Pregnancy. Sick Stomach in Preg- 
nancy. Puerperal Fever (Phlegmasia Doleus.) Milk Leg. 
Nursing Sore Mouth. Case of Mrs. Ward. Another case of 
Nursing Sore Mouth, showing the rascality of a physician. Sore 
Nipples. Caked or Swelled Breast. Spinal Affection. Pro- 
lapsus Uteri. Case of Prolapsus. Second case of Prolapsus. 
Third case of Prolapsus. Fourth case of Prolapsus. Delicacy : 
False and true. Haemorrhage from the Uterus. Painful Menstrua- 
tion. The "Whites. Obstruction of the Menses 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Between Mother and Child. When a child is born what to do first. 
Why it is best to have a good doctor within call. Directions for 
washing and dressing. Treatment of children. Position of 
children in sleep. Diseases of children. Teething. Earache. 
Sores behind the ears. Convulsions. Diarrhoea of children. 
Dysentery of children. Diphtheria. Croup. Membranous Croup. 
Spasmodic Croup. Cholera Infantum. Falls, blows and hurts 
on the head in children. On Weaning infants , 259 

CHAPTER XV. 
Dropsy. Veneral disease. Hints to Parents. Sunstroke 288 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Worms. Scurvy. Ulcers. Piles. Boils. Cancer. Sore or Cracked 
Lips (Bronchocele.) Swelled Neck. Whitlow or Felon. Corns. 
Warts. Cling Nails, or Nails growing into the Toe. Sweating 
of the Feet. Chilblains 297 

CHAPTER XVH. 

Consumption. Case of Consumption. Second case of Consumption. 
Third case of Consumption. Fourth case of Consumption. Fifth 
case of Consumption. Case of Consumption by S. P. S. Second 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 13 

case by S. P. S. Third case of Consumption by S. P. S. Spitting 
Blood. Influenza (Epidemic Catarrh.) Case of Influenza. Chronic 
Catarrh 320 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Fractures and Broken Bones. Sprains. Bruises. Cuts. Stopping 
Blood. Bleeding at the Nose. Bleeding from the Bowels in Low 
Fevers. Vomiting Blood 341 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Poisons and their Antidotes 353 

CHAPTER XX. 

Measures. Sarsaparilla Syrup. Alterative. Tonic and Expectorant 
Syrup. Cascarilla Bitters. Colic or Wind Bitters. Medicamen- 
tum. Sedgwick's Liniment. Cure for Chronic Rheumatism. 
Thompson's No. 6. Scrofulous Plaster. Salt Rheum and how to 
cure it. Itch and its cure. Cough Elixir. Quinine Bitters. Al- 
terative Wash No. 1. Alterative Wash No. 2. Alterative Wash 
No. 3. Common Liniment. Nitro-Muriatic Acid Bath. Anti- 
monial Ointment. Mustard Plasters. Horse Radish. Camphor- 
ated Oil. Camphor Ice. Liver Pills. Dewee's Tincture. Eye 
Water. Cough Emulsion. Cough Pills No. 1. Cough Pills No. 
2. Cough Pills No. 3. Simple Cough Pills. Corrective Pills. 
Bilious Pills. Alterative Powders. Fever Powders or Dover 
Powders. Preparation for Dropsy. Second preparation for 
Dropsy. Alden's Drops Diarrhoea Pills. Lotion for Swelling 
caused by Blows. Palpitation of the Heart. Stitch in Back. 
Ellmore's Dyspepsia Pills. Toothache. New remedy for Tooth- 
ache. Essences, and how to make them. Bread- an d-niilk Poultice. 
Flax Seed Poultice. Chlorate of Soda Poultice. Slippery Elm 
Poultice. Carrot Poultice. Charcoal Poultice. Hemlock Poul- 
tice. Yeast Poultice. Sticking Salve. White Pine Turpentine 
Salve. To prevent the hair from falling off. Another to prevent 
the hair from falling off, and also a beautiful dressing. Another 
nice hair dressing. Cheap and beautiful hair dye 382 



PATENT AND SPECIFICATIONS. 



No. 76,832. 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

To all to whom these Letters Patent shall come : 

Whereas S. P. Sedgwick, of Wheaton, Illinois, has alleged that he has 
invented a new and useful improved medicine, and has made oath that 
he is a citizen of the United States, that he verily believes he is the 
original and first inventor or discoverer of the said invention, and that 
the same hath not, to his knowledge and belief, been previously known 
or used ; has paid into the Treasury of the United States the sum of 
thirty-five dollars, and presented a petition to the Commissioner of 
Patents, praying that a patent may be issued therefor, — 

These are therefore to grant to the said S. P. Sedgwick, his executors, 
administrators or assigns, for the term of seventeen years from the 
fourteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, 
the full and exclusive right and liberty of making, using and vending 
to others to be used, the said invention, a description whereof is given 
in the annexed schedule, and made a part of these presents. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused these Letters to be 

[seal.] made Patent, and the seal of the Patent Office to be here- 
unto affixed. 

Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this fourteenth day 
of April, in the year of our .Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 
ninety-second. 

W. T. Otto, Acting Secretary of the Interior. 
A. M. Stout, Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

Countersigned and Sealed with the 
Seal of the Patent Office. 



United States Patent Office. 

S. P. SEDGWICK, OF WHEATON, ILLINOIS. 

Letters Patent No. 76,832, dated April 14, 1868. 

IMPROVED MEDICINE. 

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent, and making part 

of the same. 
To all whom it may concern : 

Be it known that I, S. P. Sedgwick, of Wheaton, in the county of 
Du Page, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and efficient Specific 
for Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria ; and I do hereby declare that the fol- 
lowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable 
those skilled in the art to make and use the same. 

The within-described medicine, for the cure of Scarlet Fever and 
Diphtheria, is prepared and believed to be efficacious upon the principle 
that whatever the remote cause of these diseases may be, whether epi- 
demic or contagious, the immediate proximate cause is a viscid, acrid, 
glutinous mucous lining of the stomach, and that if this is removed by a 
remedy that will not operate as physic, and will, at the same time, 
change the tone of the stomach so that it will not again secrete the 
mucus aforesaid, the patient will recover. 

I prepare the medicine as follows : 

Sulphate of copper, or acetate of copper, half ounce. 

Ipecac, half ounce. 

These substances are well pulverized and mixed, and into this mixture 
are put six ounces of strong sage tea, sweetened with sugar, and a table- 
spoonful of alcohol is added to the whole. 

One drachm of this is given the patient every fifteen minutes, until 
the patient has vomited freely two or three times, warm drinks being 
given in the meantime. 

If the mucous substance is discharged freely, and then the warm 
drinks only are ejected, it is sufficient. 

If the mucus is not discharged, the emetic is to be repeated every 
five or six hours until that result is attained. 

Before taking the emetic, ■ the patient is to be prepared, as in other 
cases, by having the extremities warmed and the system in a state of 
as equal circulation as possible. 



16 SPECIFICATIONS. 

The medicine is to be used as a gargle for the throat in case of 
ulcers therein ; and, as the mucous is acid, after the operation of the 
emetic, I give, every two or three hours, a dessert-spoonful of the 
following mixture : 

Bicarbonate of soda, one tea- spoonful. 

Paregoric, one table-spoonful. 

Water, half a pint. 

Loaf-sugar, half an ounce. 

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent — 

The medicine or specific, composed of the ingredients about in the 
proportion as set forth, for the purpose specified. 

S. P. SEDGWICK. 

Witnesses : 

E. W. Fisher. 
G. B. Va Dine. 



CHAPTER I. 

OBJECT AND CONTENTS. 

The object in writing and publishing this work is 
not to make every person his own doctor, and thus 
do away with the services of physicians entirely ; but 
it is hoped that it will have some effect in breaking 
down the partition-wall that divides the profession 
from the people, and awaken in the minds of the 
people a desire to know something about the " frail 
tenement in which we live," its diseases and means 
of cure ; and also enable them to distinguish between 
physicians who understand their profession and know 
its duties, and those who have embraced it as a means 
of making a fortune. It will enable you to distin- 
guish one disease from another, and to treat all ordi- 
nary diseases that are not dangerous in their tendency 
without employing a physician. 

We are aware that few physicians, even those who 
are eminent in the profession, will risk their own lives 
or the lives of their families in their own hands, when 
they are afflicted with a violent and dangerous dis- 
ease. At such a time we want a living physician, in 
whom we place confidence, with whom we can coun- 
sel and advise. But all ordinary diseases, by being 
particular in examining into the symptoms, so as not 
. 2 



18 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

to confound it with some other disease that needs dif- 
ferent treatment, you can manage yourself, and save 
the trouble and expense of employing a physician. 
But do not go in the dark ; if you are not sure, con- 
sult an honest, intelligent physician. 

It will tell you how to prepare, and when to use, 
various Expectorants, Elixirs, Cough Medicines, Lini- 
ments, Pills, etc. ; and thus avoid the necessity of 
purchasing any of the various patent medicines 
extant. 

It will tell you how to cure several terrible diseases 
that the profession do not pretend are curable in 
malignant cases. These are, Scarlet Fever, Diphthe- 
ria, Cholera Infantum, and Typhoid and Typhus 
Fever, Epilepsy and St. Vitus' Dance. 

Father has practiced medicine nearly fifty years, 
and I nearly twenty-five — together over seventy 
years — and can say, with truth, that neither of us 
ever lost a patient with either of these diseases, 
unless it was complicated with some other disease, 
fatal in itself, or the patient in a dying state when 
the visit was made — (we do not pretend to raise the 
dead). You will find full directions in these pages 
which, if followed, will not fail to cure. 

The treatment of Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria is 
secured by Letters Patent from the United States, 
and no person will be allowed to prescribe and use it 
without authority. Every purchaser of this work 
has a deed, giving him a right to use it in his family. 



A FAMILY PHYSICIAN". 19 

One hundred dollars reward will be paid to any per- 
son who will furnish proof that this remedy has been 
used without authority from me. 

It gives full directions for the treatment of all 
chronic diseases, illustrated by cases, giving the treat- 
ment, and showing its effects from day to day. 

Every thing is written plainly in the English 
language, and it is issued with the confident belief 
that it will be worth many times its cost to every 
purchaser who gives it a thorough examination, and 
acts upon its advice. 

It gives an antidote for every known poison, so far 
as any antidote is known. 

It is itself a perfect family physician. It describes 
all diseases (except some few that come properly 
under the head of surgery) ; tells you how to distin- 
guish one disease from another, when they are so 
nearly alike that there is any danger of mistake ; 
tells how to cure all curable diseases, in so plain a 
manner that you will have perfect confidence in your 
ability to manage all ordinary diseases yourself; and 
in cases where you would have doubts of your own 
ability, it will give you such, information that you will 
be able to decide whether or not your physician is 
managing the case in a scientific manner. 

It gives directions for taking care of the sick, both 
adults and children. 

It tells how to prepare food and nourishment for 
the sick. 



20 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

It is, excepting the Bible, of more value to any 
family than any other book published. 

It gives yon the right to prepare and use medicines 
that are sure to cure Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria and 
Cholera Infantum — three diseases which are said to 
destroy more than half the children (born in our large 
towns and cities) before they arrive at the age of five 
years. Without purchasing this book, no person has 
a right to use those remedies. 

We do not ask you to take our word for the truth 
of what we say ; but present the proof, to which we 
invite your careful attention. Please read that, and 
the introduction, and you can not fail to be satisfied. 



CHAPTER II. 



INTRODUCTION SOME OF THE MYSTERIES OF THE 

MEDICAL PROFESSION" EXPLAINED, AND INFORMATION 
FOR THE READER. 



In commencing this work, I am aware that I am 
treading upon dangerous and forbidden ground. It 
has ever been the aim and object of the medical 
faculty to surround the so-called medical science with 
mystery. It is urged upon the students in all the 
medical schools to make their prescriptions in an 
unknown tongue, or, rather, in a dead language. If 
the common people — their patients — could read 
their prescriptions, they might learn how simple, or 
how poisonous, some of their remedies are ; or they 
might, perchance, know how to prescribe for them- 
selves, or their friends, when suffering from a similar 
disease. When two or more physicians are called 
together to consult over a severe case, if they converse 
about it in presence of the patient, or his or her 
friends, the same dead language must be used. It 
will not answer to talk the plain, honest truth. If 
the physician in attendance has prescribed ignorantly 
and wrongly, even to the injury of the patient, the 
rules of medical ethics require that that ignorance 



22 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

and injury should be covered up ; the brother doctor 
must not suffer in his reputation, though the patient 
does, both in body and mind. The council may 
change the treatment radically, but they will agree 
that it has been right up to that time. All these 
rules, and many more, are urged upon students by 
their teachers and professors, that the people may be 
kept in ignorance, not only of themselves — of all 
that appertains to disease and the proper remedies 
therefor — but also of the misery, pain and premature 
death caused by the ignorance, or want of skill, of a 
weak brother ; if, perchance, he belongs to the same 
order, and has been so lucky as to be admitted within 
the sacred precincts of the " regular medical society/' 
all of whose members are expected to make the same 
extortionate charges, The rules in reference to the 
treatment of the brethren when called in council must 
be observed. " Regulars" must be protected, even if 
they do some times make a mistake by which their 
patients suffer ; and if one should have honesty and 
temerity sufficient to prompt him to call things by 
their right names, or if he should happen to belong to 
that class who are willing to " let others live as well 
as live himself," and thus fail to charge more than a 
fair compensation for his services, in disregard of the 
rules of the " regular medical society," the hand of 
fellowship is withdrawn from him, and he is no longer 
entitled to the protection of the society. After this, 
it would be possible for him to make a prescription 



ETHICS OF THE PKOFESSION. 23 

that would not answer at all, indeed, he might be 
guilty of " malpractice." 

If a mechanic invents any new tool or machine 
that is of great value, he may procure a patent, and 
enjoy the benefit of his genius ; but if a regular phy- 
sician discovers any new and valuable remedy, or new 
combination of remedies, he must impart that know- 
ledge to his brethren, without fee or hope of reward, 
under penalty of being excluded from their society, 
and publicly branded as a quack. Let a physician 
put out a secret remedy for any particular disease — 
it may cure every case, or it may not, all the same to 
the regulars — they will pronounce the medicine a 
humbug, and its author a quack. Consequently, the 
public, who are not posted, do not know what medi- 
cine to place confidence in, and what to give a wide 
berth to. 

Dr. Jayne, an eminent physician of Philadelphia, 
put up several medicines which were kept secret from 
the profession. He was immediately denounced as a 
quack, and the faculty would not associate with him 
professionally. Nevertheless, his medicines spread 
over the whole earth, and he died worth millions of 
money, and his name is honored by millions of peo- 
ple in all climes. His medicines were valuable, and, 
consequently, won their way to public favor, in spite 
of the " humbug and quack" cry of the profession, 
members of which, in many places, were not able even 
to maintain a practice in competition with Jayne's 



24 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN". 

medicines. This does not prove that it is policy, 01 
even economy, to use Jayne's medicines ; but it doeg 
prove that Jayne's medicines are more reliable than 
poor physicians. There are many honorable, honest, 
successful physicians. If all, or if even the large 
majority, were such, proprietary medicines would 
never obtain any great circulation. It is because 
physicians have such poor success, lose so many 
patients where they have promised recovery, disap 
pointed, if not deceived, their patrons so many times, 
and enveloped the profession in so much mystery, 
burying English under a shower of technical terms 
that often they do not themselves understand. These 
are some of the reasons why the public have so little 
confidence in the profession as a whole, and why they 
spend their money buying patent medicines, the com- 
position of which they know nothing about. It is 
all the same with them, if they procure a prescrip- 
tion of a physician ; it is in an unknown language, 
and they think they might as well buy a secret 
remedy at the start, as to pay a physician for a pre- 
scription of which they know nothing, and then pay 
the druggist for the medicine. If the faculty would 
try to educate the people, rather than keep them in 
ignorance, upon the subject of diseases and the nature 
of medicines — talk to them in plain English, and 
write their prescriptions in the same language, the 
time would soon come when the bare fact that a 



PATENT MEDICrjSTES. 25 

medicine was a secret, would condemn it in every 
intelligent community. 

As I have remarked, Dr. Jayne has succeeded in 
spreading his medicines wherever the name of 
America is known, and in building up a colossal 
fortune and a world-wide reputation. Dr. Ayer has 
done the same thing. The fact is, their medicines 
are valuable remedies for the diseases for which they 
are recommended. If the diseases were always true 
to name, and ever manifested the same symptoms, 
proprietary medicines, compounded by men like 
Jayne and Ayer — men who really understand their 
profession, and had moral courage enough to brave 
the storm of reproach and obliquy that was sure to 
be heaped upon them — would answer as well as the 
living physician, who was their equal in medical 
knowledge. 

But, unfortunately for patent medicine venders, 
diseases of the same name manifest different symp- 
toms, and need different treatment. This is the 
reason why so many young physicians are unsuccess- 
ful. They find a name for the disease, and then pre- 
scribe according to their books, and are astonished 
to find their patients do not recover. Ignorant men, 
taking advantage of the success of such men as Jayne 
and Ayer, and knowing that the faculty could say 
no worse things about medicines which were worth- 
less, and prepared for certain diseases without the 
least knowledge of such diseases, or of the nature 



26 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN. 

and effect of the medicines used, Lave flooded the 
country with nostrums advertised to cure every dis- 
ease to which human flesh is heir. The public, 
having been deceived by the senseless cry of quack- 
ery raised by the profession in reference to medicines 
truly valuable, and prepared upon scientific princi- 
ples, pay no sort of attention to the warnings given 
them against medicines which are not only worthless 
but positively injurious. Is it strange that the peo- 
ple will patronize patent medicines, the nature and 
effect of which they are ignorant, merely for the 
reason that they see them advertised as a certain 
cure for the disease from which they are suffering ? 
It is not strange ; every thing is kept a secret from 
them, and they are purposely kept in the dark. If 
they apply to a " regular," his prescription is a secret, 
a mystery. If they buy patent medicines, it is the 
same thing to them. Light and knowledge for the 
people is what is needed, to put a stop to the success 
of humbuggery and quackery in every form. If the 
people had been educated to know themselves, and 
understood the nature and use of the different medi- 
cines ; if physicians were in the habit of being frank 
and truthful to their patients, and of using the English 
language in all their communications with them, and 
had encouraged the introduction of the rudiments of 
medical knowledge in our public schools, it would 
be impossible to sell patent medicines to any extent, 
unless every package contained, not only directions 



IGNORANCE OF MEDICINES. 27 

for using, but also informed the buyer just what the 
medicine was composed of, its nature, and the effect it 
was expected to have upon the system. 

Physicians will not prescribe or use patent medi- 
cines unless they know what medicines are used in 
their composition, and the proportion of each. So it 
would be with the common people, if they understood 
the nature of medicines — their action upon the sys- 
tem, both in health and disease. If every individual, 
male and female, should spend even one whole year 
of their school days in obtaining this knowledge, who 
can tell its effect upon the generation to come ? Why 
is every thing connected with disease and medicine 
so completely overlooked by every young person, 
unless designing to make it a profession? Until the 
people are informed upon this important subject, the 
most wicked and worthless preparations will have a 
temporary success. I have heard many physicians 
express astonishment that people would buy medi- 
cines of which they knew nothing, and compounded 
by those of whom they knew nothing, merely because 
they were advertised as a sure cure for certain diseases. 
It is not strange ; it is only a matter of astonishment 
to me that so few persons buy and take patent medi- 
cines. "All that a man hath will he give for his 
life." 

It will be admitted by every well-educated, intelli- 
gent physician, who has been successful, that nine 
out of every ten physicians, particularly for the first 



28 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ten or fifteen years of their practice, do more hurt 
than good. This is a fact, seen, felt and understood 
by the mass of the people. Notwithstanding this 
truth, a physician that is justly entitled to the confi- 
dence of the people, can not be too highly prized, 
but he must be a man of sound and ready judgment ; 
one that knows every time what to give and when 
to give it, as well as when to withhold it; one that 
knows that there is a strong tendency in the human 
system towards health, and that nature, left to herself, 
is a great restorer ; one that realizes that his business 
is to watch the efforts of nature, and if he sees an 
opportunity to aid her in those efforts, do so ; if not, 
do nothing. If you are blessed with such a one, hold 
fast to him ; you may not find another by trying a 
hundred. It is no effort for him to maintain his medi- 
cal dignity. He does not find it necessary to run down 
neighboring physicians in order to build himself up ; 
he is conscious of his own integrity, has confidence in 
his own judgment, and, consequently, he is ever ready 
to meet counsel. He is honest, and will tell you 
plainly what his opinion of your case is ; will never 
try to make you believe you are dangerously sick, in 
order to have you think that he has performed a great 
cure. If you are in danger, he will not trifle with 
you ; you need have no fears that he will keep you 
sick a day in order to make a long bill; you can 
repose perfect confidence in him, he will not betray 



COST OF PATENT MEDICINES. 29 

you. I will not draw the picture of his opposite, you 
can see it any where. 

Having this opinion, knowing what efforts have 
been made, and are still being made, to keep the peo- 
ple in ignorance upon this subject, I can not blame 
any body who lacks a confidence in the profession ; 
and although I can not see how they can have any 
more confidence in the nostrums of perfect strangers, 
I know they read the certificates ; they have so far 
failed of procuring help. " This medicine has cured 
others in my condition ; it may cure me. I will try 
it." It is natural — it is human. 

If patent medicines could be relied upon to do 
what is claimed for them, still they ought not to be 
patronized, on account of their cost. They are made 
not for the reason that their proprietors have a great 
love for suffering humanity, and an unselfish, desire to 
do them a favor, but for the purpose of making 
money. There are none of them that do not sell for 
four times their value, and many of them a hundred. 
I know a catarrh-remedy that sells for $1.50 per 
bottle, the bottle and label of which cost more than 
the medicine. You can buy the medicine contained 
in one bottle of it for five cents. It is a good remedy. 
A gentleman of my acquaintance told me it was worth 
to him more than its cost. I might name a dozen 
medicines with which I am acquainted, that sell for 
more than fifty times their original cost. One object 
of this work is to relieve its purchasers from the 



30 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

necessity of being cheated and humbugged in this 
way. Herein you will find remedies for every com- 
plaint, as good as any of these medicines, and far 
better than the large majority, because most of them 
are prepared by persons who have no knowledge of 
diseases or medicines. They have, in some way, 
learned of a medicine that is good for a particular 
disease; they prepare it, advertise, get certificates, 
sell, and often make a fortune, out of the ignorance 
of a confiding people. 

I know a physician, who formerly resided in this 
county, with whom I was well acquainted, and who 
often called me to consult with him. He has told 
me many times that I was a d — d fool. " You are 
called to see patients with a bilious attack; you 
examine them, tell them they are not sick much, and 
will be better in a day or two ; leave medicine for 
them, and tell them if they need you again, to let 
you know. I am called to patients in the same con- 
dition ; I tell them they are very sick, if they are well 
in a month they may be thankful ; I visit them ten or 
twelve times ; they get well, and think I have done 
wonders for them. I make ten or twelve dollars to 
your one, and my patients think more of me, as a 
doctor, than yours do of you. You will not get rich ; 
I tell you the people like to be humbugged, and are 
willing to pay well for it." In a few years he was rich, 
while I remained poor ; but I have the satisfaction of 
knowing that I never visited a patient when I did 



HONESTY IN PEACTICE. 31 

not think it was necessary, nor took a dollar from a 
person for professional services, that I did not render 
them an equivalent for. I know of several physicians 
now, that are having a large practice, and doing 
business in the same way. It is poor encouragement 
for an honest man to be obliged to compete with such 
persons. The only remedy is to spread light and 
knowledge, and educate the people upon this subject, 
so that they may be able to distinguish between the 
true and false — between a physician who under- 
stands his profession to be an honorable one, and not 
a mere means of making a fortune by deception and 
fraud, in making people believe they need his services 
when they do not ; and the style I have described, 
that care nothing for the health or peace of mind of 
their patients, if they can only attain their object in 
life — money. 

The so-called " regular faculty" are determined that 
the physicians of the country shall learn nothing 
except what comes through their particular channel. 
They would rather the whole population should die 
in what they would call a scientific manner, under 
the treatment promulgated at the medical schools 
and through the text-books approved by them, than 
be cured by any other means. Father has practiced 
medicine nearly fifty years ; when he graduated, he 
knew no more about treating Scarlet Fever than his 
teachers and the books he studied ; but before he had 
lost any patients with that disease, he learned how to 



32 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

cure it, in a way not recommended or known by pro- 
fessors in medical colleges, or mentioned in medical 
text-books, either then or now. This method he has 
used nearly fifty years, and I have used it nearly 
twenty-five years, with perfect success, neither of us 
ever having lost a case of pure Scarlet Fever, when 
called before the patient was in a dying condition. 

When the Diphtheria made its appearance about 
ten years ago, I became satisfied that it was only 
another manifestation of Scarlet Fever, and treated it 
accordingly, with success. 

Father gave the treatment to Dr. Van Doren, then 
of Paw Paw, now of Ottawa; he was successful, 
never having lost a patient since. Hon. W. W. 
Sedgwick studied medicine with father over twenty 
years ago ; he treated Scarlet Fever upon the same 
plan, and with the same success. I procured certifi- 
cates of the facts, and printed them in a circular, and 
at the same time prepared a treatise upon Scarlet 
Fever, Diphtheria, Cholera Infantum, Typhoid and 
Typhus Fever, by Drs. P. and S. P. Sedgwick. 

I then sent an advertisement to the " Chicago 
Medical Journal," and the " New York Medical Jour- 
nal,' 7 of which the following is a copy : 

"To Physicians. — Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, 
Cholera Infantum, Typhoid and Typhus Fever cured 
every time. For proof, address Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, 
Wheaton, 111." 



TEEATISE ON SCAELET FEVEE, ETC. 33 

This these journals refused to publish as an adver- 
tisement ; reason given, " It is inadmissible." 

I then mailed my circulars to eight hundred dif- 
ferent Post Offices in the State of Illinois. This 
circular contained the same certificates published in 
this work. I received replies from about forty physi- 
cians, nearly all of them fearing it was a humbug ; 
but saying, if it was true, it would be worth hundreds 
of dollars to know it. 

I proposed to send them the treatise for ten dollars ; 
let them try it, and if it proved as successful in their 
hands as it had in ours, they should pay me fifteen 
dollars more in two years. One sent me ten dollars, 
and his conditional note for fifteen dollars. One 
ordered the treatise sent, and agreed to send the 
money as soon as received ; I sent him the treatise, 
and have never heard from him since. Two wanted 
the treatise, provided I would take their word to pay 
for it, if it proved successful ; I sent it to them. One 
would like to have it, but did not believe it would 
do what we claimed, but said, if I would send it to* 
him, he would send me in return Dr. Heber's cele- 
brated cure for Cancer ; I sent it immediately, but 
have not heard from him since. 

I have ever intended to put these remedies before 
the public in some way, and I would have preferred 
to have done so through the medium of the profession ; 
but they spurned it — treated it with contempt. If it 
was of any value, it was my duty to give it to them 



34 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

through the medium of the medical journals. We 
were not indebted either to the medical journals or to 
the profession for the theory or the means of cure. 
It is different from anything known or mentioned by 
any author or professor. They give nothing away ; 
they club together to maintain extortionate prices for 
their services. All medical writers say that, in 
malignant cases of these diseases, the patients will 
often die, do what you will. Beside, if we had pub 
lished it to them for nothing, they would most likely 
have paid no attention to it. The authors were 
unknown to them ; were not professors in any " regu- 
lar" institution, and they would have believed that 
the remedies were worthless. 

A Dr. Sawyer, of North Carolina, probably forty 
years ago, published a little work, entitled, " Sawyer 
on Fever." It was a treatise on Fevers, and other 
diseases, caused principally by " marsh effluvia." It 
was worth more, particularly to a Western physician, 
than all the works on practice I ever saw. It was 
written in a plain familiar way, gave a reason for 
every thing, and the treatment recommended was to 
be relied upon. All your reasonable expectations 
could be realized, yet it was despised by the profes- 
sion. " Who is Dr. Sawyer V Ten years ago, if the 
question had been asked, " Who is U. S. Grant ?" who 
would have answered it ? I never saw but one copy 
of that work. It was unpretending, bound in cloth, 
and contained about 400 octavo pages, but more 



PATENT APPLIED FOR. SI 

precious than gold. It was the merest accident that 
we ever saw the work. About thirty years ago, 
when we were living in the State of New York, a 
* Frenchman, one of our neighbors, when in New York 
City, happened to be at an auction of old books ; he 
bought a quantity of them for a nominal sum ; this 
was one of them, and when he returned home he gave 
it to father. It is nearly worn out, but you could not 
buy it for any reasonable sum. If it were reprinted, 
and read and practiced upon by every " regular" in 
the United States, it would be the means, in my 
judgment, of saving more lives than all the physi- 
cians now in the country. While I live, I shall never 
cease to revere the name of Dr. Sawyer. 

After sending out these circulars, and receiving the 
answers, I determined to apply for a patent upon the 
theory and cure for Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria ; and 
carry out my original intention of writing a work, in 
the English language, for the people, and insert a 
patent deed in each book, thus giving each purchaser, 
for a nominal sum, the right to use the medicine in 
their families; and, at the same time, deliver thou- 
sands from the hands of these self-conceited regulars, 
whose bread and butter depends, as they imagine, 
upon keeping the people in ignorance. 

I would not be surprised if they should claim that 
it was an old remedy, and they had known all about 
it for years (unfortunately, doctors do not always tell 
the truth) ; but I will pay five hundred dollars for 



36 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

any and every copy of any work, giving the same 
treatment, published previous to the year 1869. 

I remember very well hearing a celebrated professor 
of surgery say, in one of his lectures, twenty-five years 
ago, that he would not use a surgical instrument 
invented by a surgeon, if it was patented, " for," said 
he, "it is their business, if they make any improve- 
ment, to give it to the profession." This same pro- 
fessor would charge a poor man $100 for a simple 
operation. Now, all the recently-made surgical in- 
struments, used by surgeons, are patented. I fail to 
see why inventors of instruments, machinery, etc., 
valuable to the public, may justly and righteously 
obtain a patent therefor ; but if a physician invents a 
remedy, or combination of remedies, that cures dis- 
eases heretofore considered fatal, he must give it to 
the profession, and let them charge the public high 
'prices for it, under penalty of being published, far and 
wide, as a quack, and unworthy to associate with 
these, par excellence, pure regulars. I am ready to 
take the responsibility. I have no money sticking 
to my fingers, taken from the people without a con- 
sideration. 

Young men, who can never succeed in the medical 
profession, are often induced to study it from the cir- 
cumstances by which they are surrounded. Peculiar 
qualifications are necessary to make a successful physi- 
cian. A person might be successful as a lawyer, a 
preacher, a mechanic, or merchant, who would fail 



WHAT MAKES A PHYSICIAN. 37 

miserably as a physician, no matter how many years 
he might devote to preparation. 

Young men generally choose their profession in 
view of their own likes or dislikes, without reference 
to the qualifications which nature has bestowed upon 
them; consequently, the profession of medicine is 
crowded with those who should be pleading law, 
preaching the Gospel, or following some commercial 
or mechanical art ; in short, they have mistaken their 
calling. 

It is asserted by many of the oldest and most emi- 
nent physicians, that fewer persons would find a prema- 
ture grave, if every physician and every medical work 
could be destroyed, and the world left in complete 
ignorance upon this so-called science, than now do, 
with all the knowledge we possess ; that at least 
nine out of ten physicians do more mischief than 
benefit with their prescriptions. I believe this my- 
self; but this is no argument against physicians. It 
only proves that a large proportion of them should 
be engaged in other business. The Creator makes 
physicians, and unless they are intended by Him for 
that profession, they will find their whole lives a 
series of disappointments ; and those who are so un- 
lucky as to be their patients, will suffer from their 
having mistaken their calling. The predestinated 
physician sees almost by intuition the true condition 
of his patient, and knows what remedies are calcu- 
lated to assist nature in her process of restoration. 



CHAPTER III. 



WHY THEEE AEE SO MANY DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF 
MEDICINE, AND WHAT THEY ARE. 



This is entirely owing to the ignorance of the people. 
If the people understood as much of the human sys- 
tem as they should, it would be utterly impossible 
for any medical school or sect to flourish, having for 
its stock-in-trade a mere name. We will not go back, 
in the history of medicine, beyond the present genera- 
tion ; although we might find different schools 
appearing, flourishing for a short time, and dying out, 
from the time of Hippocrates, B. C, until now. 

Hippocrates' doctrine consisted in observing and 
following nature, as indicated by her presumed efforts, 
and crises set up by her. This is a good doctrine to 
stand by to-day. The tendency of nature is towards 
health; if her laws were never violated, we should 
never suffer pain or sickness (except labor pains, pro- 
nounced upon woman as a curse), but wear out, like 
an old clock. In sickness, most, if not all, the symp- 
toms (except, perhaps, the symptoms of death) are 
efforts of nature to throw off the diseased action 
which has been caused by the violation of some of 
her organic laws; hence, the good physician will 



SYMPTOMATOLOGY. 39 

watch his opportunity. If he can do any thing to 
assist nature in her operations, he will do so ; if not, 
he will do nothing. The great trouble is, that many 
physicians, instead of assisting nature in her efforts to 
throw off disease and resume her healthv action, fi>ht 
and thwart these efforts, mistaking a symptom for a 
disease. It is like cutting off the top of a dock, and 
leaving the root undisturbed in the ground. The top 
is only a sign, or symptom, that there is a root grow- 
ing in the ground ; cut off the top, and you remove 
the sign, or symptom. Another person coming along 
would not know that there was a root there ; but it 
is all the time growing larger and stronger, ready in 
a short time to show the top, or symptom, larger than 
before; remove the root, and the top, or symptom, 
will never show itself again. It is precisely so with 
disease; and I have seen physicians, hundreds of 
times, prescribing for symptoms of disease while the 
root or cause was left untouched, and was gathering 
strength every day. 

There are many preachers of the doctrine " Pre- 
scribe for symptoms." In theory it is wrong, and 
productive of much evil. It is true that symptoms 
should be attended to and prescribed for, but they 
should be looked upon as the means of ascertaining 
the cause of the disease. It is easy to see that, if you 
remove the cause, there will be no symptoms. Causes 
produce effects ; and these effects, in disease, are called 
symptoms. If relieving them would remove the 



40 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IK. 

cause, all would be well. Symptoms should be met 
and relieved, but they must not be regarded as the 
disease itself; this is a fatal error. This is the reason 
why several diseases, like Scarlet Fever and Diph- 
theria, have, in malignant cases, been considered 
incurable. The cause immediately operating to pro- 
duce those violent symptoms has not been ascertained. 
We think we have learned it, and can effect its 
removal. 

I might pursue this argument, and cite cases that 
have come under my observation, to prove the posi- 
tion ; but my object in this chapter is to show why 
so many different schools of medicine have nourished 
for a brief season. I can well remember when a 
certain portion of the people (always the most igno- 
rant portion) were wild after what was called the 
Thompsonian, or Botanic and Steam, practice. They 
claimed that God, in His goodness, had caused to 
grow in every clime, roots and herbs that would cure 
every disease incident to that clime. A small work 
of two or three hundred pages was published, and 
any person who would purchase that work could 
become a physician immediately. The country was 
^flooded with these new fledglings. Nearly eveiy 
town and hamlet had its sign, — "Botanic Physi- 
cian and Surgeon." The mass of the people did not 
■stop to reflect that a part of the course of three years' 
study of a regular physician (and a life-time would 
not qualify many of them), was botany and the 



THE "BOTANIC SYSTEM. 41 

United States Dispensatory, which describes every 
plant, and root, and earthy or mineral substance in 
the known world that has any medicinal quality or 
commercial value whatever ; that a new and improved 
edition of that work is issued every few years, con- 
taining all the new discoveries; that that work 
describes all the plants and roots known to Thomp- 
son and his followers, and hundreds of others that he 
knows or says nothing about ; that educated physi- 
cians used all these roots and herbs that were of any 
medicinal value, in cases which required them, unless 
they knew of some thing that was far better ; that 
they knew all that Thompson knew, and as much 
more as three or four years' constant study, and the 
attendance upon two courses of scientific lectures, 
given by living professors, was better than the read- 
ing of a little work of two or three hundred pages; 
but they were called " mineral doctors," " calomel 
doctors," etc., etc., although the fact was, that they 
did not prescribe one mineral substance where they 
did fifty or a hundred that were vegetable. Where 
is the much- vaunted " Botanic System" now ? Very 
few are found to do it reverence; it died with its 
author. Truth never dies ; true merit can afford to 
bide its time. The Baconian system of reasoning, 
from cause to effect, has stood the test of centuries ; 
and so the true system will ultimately prevail, what- 
ever it may be. Education and knowledge have 
nothing to fear in the race with ignorance and super- 
stition. 



42 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

If one humbug could be greater than another as a 
name for a school of medicine, it is the name Eclectic 
— (" One of a class of ancient philosophers who pro- 
fessed to choose what was good for all sects.") This 
is nothing more or less than a burlesque upon the 
"Tegulars;" that is, their profession, precisely — they 
do not do it as a body, or a whole, for most of them 
think they can learn nothing except it comes from 
one above them in the profession, and it would be 
exceedingly difficult to find one above them in know- 
ledge, in their own opinion. If any thing will tickle 
a man's vanity, and exalt a person in his own opinion, 
it is to elect him a professor in a regular medical 
college. If you wish to see the embodiment of all 
medical knowledge, so far as one's own opinion is 
concerned, you have but to see one of these professors. 
There are honorable exceptions, but the exceptions 
are generally aged men, who have had large experi- 
ence, and have learned that nature, " or the powers 
of nature to heal herself," are of more value than 
medicines. Young doctors are very apt to be con- 
ceited; they generally think they have seen and 
know it all. They believe in the potency of medi- 
cines ; but when they see patient after patient die 
under their treatment, and medicines, from which 
they expected great things, having no effect in arrest- 
ing disease, the conceit begins to die out of them, and 
by the time they have practiced ten or fifteen years, 
they are readv to become learners. 



THE " ECLECTICS. 43 

The fact is, every day brings something new in 
medicine, as well as in the other walks of life ; and 
the successful doctor is the true Eclectic, who culls 
the honey from every source where he can find it. 
The old ladies of the country are not to be despised ; 
many of their remedies, that have been handed down 
from generation to generation, are of great value. 
Genuine Eclecticism will cull the valuable from the 
worthless, here and every where. But, as I have inti- 
mated, the humbuggery of the Eclectics consists in 
pretending that they, as a school, are the only persons 
who do this, when the fact is, every good and true 
physician is now, and ever has been, an Eclectic, and 
has been constantly sifting the good from the bad — 
the true from the false — the practicable from the 
impracticable — and adding the genuine to his store 
of knowledge, every day of his life. The Bible, if care- 
fully searched, will be found to contain many valuable 
hints, which should be heeded by all, physicians and 
people. When directions are given in that Book for 
any particular case, they should be strictly followed. 
" Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish, 
and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts." In 
the face of this language, I know at least one profes- 
sor, who maintains that alcohol, in any form, is never 
necessary as a medicine. It is hardly necessary to 
add, that although living in a great city, and being 
a professor in a medical college, he is doing a large 
business, yet I never saw a good prescription that he 



44 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

made (and I have seen several, as he is often called 
into the country). 

In low fevers, or any time when a person is very 
low and dying from exhaustion, there is no substitute 
for alcohol ; thousands of persons have died at the 
crisis of disease, for the want of it. In 1864, I had a 
case in Lake county, that I must relate here : A young 
lady, sixteen years old, was just recovering from 
typhoid fever ; she was able to sit up two hours at a 
time, and had a very good appetite. Her father 
brought in some wild plums ; the girl was sitting in 
her chair, and asked for some; her mother, in the 
kindness of her heart, gave her about two-thirds of a 
tea-cupful of the ripest. In two or three hours she 
was taken violently with vomiting and purging, 
attended with severe pain and cramping. Just at 
sundown they sent for me. I was suffering with an 
attack of ague and fever, and could not go. They 
called another doctor, who remained with her over 
night. Before sunrise in the morning they sent for 
me again. I went over, found a large number of the 
neighbors in and about the house, and, as I went in, 
the doctor informed me that the patient was nearly 
dead, and past doing any thing for. I examined her, 
found her nose and ears as cold as death ; her feet, 
legs, hands and arms cold to her body ; her pulse a 
running line. She was indeed very near death; 
probably, one or two hours more, and the scene would 
have closed. I inquired for good brandy ; an old sea 



ALCOHOL AS A EEMEDY. 45 

captain, present, said, " I have some, doctor, that is 
twelve years old." He lived a mile away, but in 
fifteen minutes we had a quart of it. I have never 
seen any thing like it before, or since ; it would swim 
on water like oil, and produced a warming rather 
than burning sensation when drank clear. While 
waiting for the brandy, we put strong mustard plas- 
ters on each wrist and on the inside of each ankle, 
and had one person rubbing each hand and arm, and 
each foot and leg, in hot alcohol, with a little cayenne 
pepper in it ; we also put a large mustard plaster on 
her stomach and bowels. As soon as the brandy 
came, I gave her a tea-spoonful, with one grain of 
quinine. I repeated the brandy every five minutes, 
for two hours, giving quinine once an hour. At the 
end of two hours, her extremities were all warm, and 
she was in a nice, gentle sweat ; her pulse soft, and 
only 110 per minute. I continued the brandy every 
ten minutes, for another hour, adding, every half-hour 
a tea-spoonful of beef tea. She continued to improve 
and was able to talk. Grave the brandy every fifteen 
minutes, the next hour, and the beef tea as before. 
Before noon, she was out of danger ; and when sun- 
down came, she had drank the whole quart of brandy. 
Without it, she would have died. Five years after, 
she died in Chicago ; for all I know, this Professor, or 
some other one who did not believe the Bible, attended 
her. 

1 Take a little wine for your stomach's sake ;" noth 



46 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST 

ing is better for a weak stomach ; but let it be genuine 
wine — not currant juice, or rhubarb, or any thing of 
that sort — but good old wine, which contains from 
10 to 15 per cent, of alcohol, without which it can 
not be wine ; notwithstanding some ignorant temper- 
ance lecturers have thought it necessary to try and 
make it appear that the wine spoken of in the Gospel 
contained no alcohol. Grape juice is not wine, or, at 
least, not " old wine ;" but fermented grape juice is 
wine, and it contains alcohol. 

I have often wished to know just what sort of clay 
our Saviour used, when he spit upon it, applied it to 
the blind eyes, and restored them to sight. Although 
He worked miracles, yet He worked them by means, 
when He could ; and there can not be the least doubt 
but the same application of clay and spittle would to- 
day be a valuable remedy for diseased eyes. I have 
seen clay moistened and applied over inflamed eyes 
with good result, and also applied to the sting of bees 
and other insects. 

An Eclectic physician, then, is only one that, in his 
experience, uses such remedies as he finds are of value, 
no matter from what source they come, and rejects 
those which he finds are worthless, even though they 
are recommended by those high in authority in the 
profession. It follows, that every intelligent, honest 
physician is an Eclectic, and that for any particular 
school to appropriate that name, is simply humbug. 



HYDROPATHY. 47 



HYDROPATHY, OR WATER-CURE. 



Just now, there are quite a number of people who 
believe that water in some form — cold, hot, tepid or 
lukewarm — applied externally and used inwardly, 
is the remedy that our Creator provided for the cure 
of every disease. In many cases, large establish- 
ments, termed " Water Cures," have been fitted up 
under the direction of a physician, where invalids 
may go and be " packed" from day to day. They 
are also put upon a rigid course of diet and exercise, 
which is, of course, beneficial, and, in many cases, all 
that is needed to restore health. It is passing strange 
that any person can believe that water will cure all 
diseases. 

It is certainly time that the idea that the use of 
water as a remedy for disease in many cases, is new 
and originated with this order, was exploded. For 
the last two thousand years, water, both cold, hot 
and warm, has been recommended and used by all 
scientific physicians. The idea of using it as a medi- 
cine is not new ; but the idea of its being a specific 
for all the diseases to which humanity is heir, and 
also that it will reduce fractured and deformed limbs, 
unite hare-lips, cause the deaf to hear and the dumb 
to speak, is reserved for those who call themselves 
Hydropathists. 

Water is a powerful remedy, is capable of doing 



48 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

much good, and also much harm ; and it is important 
that it should be used by those who understand its 
power, and know when not to use as well as when to 
use it. Many persons have been killed, simply by 
the use of water. It is important to keep clean ; but 
it does not follow that it is beneficial to lie and soak 
in water for days or even hours at a time. It is very 
easy, in some inflammatory diseases, by applying cold 
water to the inflamed part, to cause a translation of 
the disease to some vital organ, thus producing death 
in a few hours. You can not read a work on the 
theory and practice of medicine, without learning 
that water is relied upon, in many diseases, as a 
powerful remedy. 'No good physician would think 
of treating a case of inflammation of the brain, with- 
out applying cold water or ice to the head ; while, if 
the disease was neuralgia, they would apply it warm ; 
but, in a case of inflammatory rheumatism, they would 
not dare use it. But it is said that " Fools will ven- 
ture where angels do not dare to tread." I know of 
at least two cases of inflammatory rheumatism in 
which the patients were killed by a pack. The dif- 
ference between good physicians and regular Hydro- 
pathists is, the physician knows when water should 
be used, and uses it, while the Hydropathist uses it 
always, and for every thing. 

I know of one woman who is a regular water 
doctress. There have been more deaths in the family 
of which she is a member and the doctor, within the 



WHAT MAKES A PHYSICIAN. 49 

last three years, than in any other family of the same 
size that I am acquainted with. 

The simple truth is, a few weeks' time, or even a 
few months, spent in reading works on " The Water 
Cure," and in attending a "Water Cure" establish- 
ment, does not qualify any person to understand all 
diseases, and be responsible for human life. Good 
men, who have made medicine a study for long years, 
and who have spent the best part of their lives in 
active practice, often feel that the responsibility is 
awful. The ignorant assume it without a single 
qualm, and act and talk as if they thought a few 
months' practice in the use of water qualified them 
better to assume this responsibility, than those years 
of close study and active duty as a physician ; and 
many people, without stopping to reflect upon these 
things, place the lives of their families and themselves 
in such hands. It must have its day. There is not 
one " Cure" in operation to-day where there were 
two, two years ago. 

HOMOEOPATHY. 

The doctrine of this school is, " That diseases are 
cured by medicines which have power to cause similar 
diseases in healthy persons," or the doctrine that 
" Like cures like." 

This doctrine is now upon its trial. The founder 
of it believed that this disordered action, similar to 
4 



50 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

the disease it was to cure, was effected by infinitesimal 
doses of apparently inert agents : the decillionth part 
of a grain of charcoal was an authorized dose. At 
the present day, the order is divided, I believe, upon 
the quantity to be given ; many of them give doses 
from which they know they can see some effect, and 
some of them hold that the doctrine is to give such 
remedies and in such doses as they find by experience 
will cure diseases. With this doctrine I have no issue 
to join : for this is our doctrine, this is the Eclectic 
doctrine. " Give such remedies as we know will 
cure," is a good doctrine for any school of medicine 
to adopt. 

MISCELLANEOUS DOCTORS. 

Under this head we will class the whole gang of 
ignorant pretenders and charlatans, who are ever on 
the alert, watching for an opportunity to ply the 
confidence game upon the suffering portion of a gen- 
erous and unsuspecting people. Generally they have 
no medical education of any sort, but are the veriest 
quacks, who deserve and owe service to the State, as 
felons. They generally advertise freely, "under a false 
name ; some of them being impious enough to call 
themselves " The Good Samaritan." 

They fill such papers as will publish their adver- 
tisements, with the most filthy and obscene literature 
of this or any more corrupt age. They certify to 



_ 



TRAVELING DOCTORS. 51 

their own skill. For instance, the true name of one is 
Lander, and his assumed name is Dr. Paul ; Dr. Lan- 
der certifies that he knew Dr. Paul in New Orleans, 
or some other city, where he was surgeon of a hos- 
pital, and was very successful in healing the sick, and 
restoring to health thousands who were given up to 
die, of debility, caused by ; that he treated suc- 
cessfully all manner of diseases, etc., etc. He adver- 
tises that he can be consulted in perfect confidence, 
at certain hours ; has splendid apartments, both for 
ladies and gentlemen ; or that persons residing at a 
distance can consult him by letter, with just as good 
results. 

Another person, born under a particular star, can 
not only see into the future, and thus tell you how to 
avoid mistakes, but can also see your inward organi- 
zation, detect disease, and prescribe intelligently, 
with the certainty of working a cure. There are 
thousands thoughtless or deluded enough to spend 
their substance upon these leeches. 

Others travel about the country, pretending to be 
from some leading city, and to have left for a short 
time, to get rid of the rush of business, and recruit 
their poor, over- worked systems ; but they will, to 
accommodate the sick and suffering, and just for once, 
prescribe. If you meet a resident of the city where 
they pretend to reside, he will know no such professor. 

Others go about the country, inquiring for and 
calling upon those who are suffering from some 



52 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

chronic disease, agreeing to cure them for a certain 
sum ; requiring half or one-third down, and the bal- 
ance in three or four months, when the patient is 
well. They take your money, and you never see or 
hear from them again. 

Then we have bone-setters — natural bone-setters, 
who were born such — who can reduce fractures of 
long standing in a moment. Or, perhaps, some pre- 
tend to be endowed with miraculous powers of heal- 
ing the sick, lame, halt, blind, etc. ; and the poor are 
healed gratis. People flock to them in crowds ; they 
speak a few words, lay hands upon you, tell you that 
you are healed, to throw away your crutch or cane, 
and walk. Hundreds, who had not been able to 
walk unsupported for years, have been known, under 
the nervous excitement of the moment, to throw away 
their aids and walk, amidst the astonished exclama- 
tions of the crowd. The next day, or perhaps the 
next hour, they were the " same old cripples as before." 
It is really astonishing that persons of education and 
refinement will tolerate, much more patronize, such 
impostors; but so it is. The greater the humbug, 
the more people will crowd to see it. 

A good rule is, never to patronize a traveling doc- 
tor or dentist, unless he is known, either to yourself 
or some intelligent friend upon whom you can rely. 
If a doctor is really talented and successful, he will 
have all the business he can attend to at home ; he 
will not be under the necessity of prowling about the 



OLD DE. JAMES. 53 

country, seeking to impose upon the sick; taking 
advantage of their condition, knowing they will, like 
a drowning man, grasp at even a straw. The sick, if 
they are told a smooth story, will be ready to invest, 
hoping that it will not prove a humbug in their case. 
The way to stop all this is to educate the people ; let 
them understand themselves; let them understand 
the laws of health, the nature and effect of medicines, 
both in health and disease : then the occupation of 
quacks and medical scoundrels will be gone. 

If this work shall have any influence in opening 
the eyes of the public, and keeping them from spend- 
ing their money upon these vile wretches, I shall be 
satisfied. 

There is still another class of very disinterested 
physicians, some of whom publish medical works 
free to all; others publish works treating upon all 
diseases, for the low sum of fifty cents or one dollar. 
When you examine them, you will find that they 
recommend for every disease some medicine prepared 
by themselves ; and they are advertising their reme- 
dies at your expense, if you are foolish enough to 
purchase one of their works. 

It will be remembered that, a few years ago, one 
old Dr. James, " whose sands of life had nearly run 
out," advertised that, in traveling in India, he had 
found a remedy that had cured him of consumption, 
which he would be glad to make known to those who 
were suffering, without money and without price. I 



54 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

know persons who applied to him, and received in 
return a prescription, which could be procured only 
of him (unless you sent to India) for two dollars. It 
was ascertained afterwards that he was a young man 
in the prime of life, and not a physician. 

Rev. advertised, in the leading papers of the 

country, that he had a prescription that had cured 
him of consumption, which he would furnish in the 
same way. It had the same result. 

Regular physicians have reason for their opposition 
to quackery in every form; but there is no reason 
why they should strive to keep the people in igno- 
rance upon this important subject, or why they should 
deceive them by pretending to know what they do 
not, or band together for the purpose of charging 
extortionate prices for their services. They should 
never forget the Golden Rule. 

HINTS IN KEGAKD TO THE CHOICE OF A PHYSICIAN. 

Young men, just commencing the practice of medi- 
cine, are allowed to brag ; but when a physician has 
had a few years' practice, his works ought to speak 
for him. He ought to, and, if he is successful, will 
have plenty of people to sound his praise. 

If you see a physician who talks as if he was the 
only one in the world, avoid him ; he is troubled with 
the big head. 

If you see one who is very forward to ask for busi- 



THE TRUE PHYSICIAN. " 55 

ness, ready to examine into your case and prescribe 
for you when you have not asked for his services, it is 
more than likely that he is a quack. 

If you see one who carries a beautiful cane, wears 
white gloves, and walks so straight that he bends the 
other way, give him a wide berth ; his brains are in 
the back part of his head. 

If you meet one who makes light of your sufferings, 
and handles you roughly ; he has not heart, and can 
not feel for others ; better not employ him. 

If you find one who, when he receives a call, stops 
to inquire how he is to be paid for his services ; he 
cares more for his pecuniary good than he does for 
your welfare or your life ; none should employ him. 

If you meet one who tries to make you believe you 
are in great danger, when he knows it is not true ; 
dismiss him at once ; he is after your purse. 

If you are satisfied that your doctor has knowingly 
deceived you once, do not give him a chance to do it 
again. 

If you employ a doctor who examines you carefully, 
handles you tenderly, explains every thing to you 
freely and candidly, so that you may understand your 
true condition ; does not act as if he wished to force 
his visits upon you ; tells you honestly when it is not 
necessary for him to visit you again ; cares more for 
your life and health than for your money; whose 
word can be relied upon under all circumstances: 
confide in him, do not desert him for strangers with 



56 



THE HOUSE WE LIVE m. 



big words ; show by your deeds that you value him, 
encourage him, and assist him in every way you can ; 
love and pray for each other. 



CHAPTEK IV. 



PULSE. 



Theee is no way by which disease can be so quickly 
detected, or is so quickly shown, as by the condition 
of the pulse. ~No person can be very sick and have 
a regular pulse; but, in order to be able to detect 
disease by the condition of the pulse, it is necessary 
to understand all its different variations. The pulse 
in a healthy adult male generally beats from sixty to 
seventy times in a minute, and is full, soft and regu- 
lar. In an adult female it beats from seventy to 
eighty times in a minute, and is not quite as strong 
as in a male. The pulse of a child a year old, in a 
state of health, beats about a hundred times in a 
minute. These facts should be remembered, when 
feeling the pulse, to detect disease. 

A person who labors hard, so that the skin of the 
fingers become thickened, can not distinguish these 
variations as readily as one who does not labor. A 
frequent pulse is one that beats more than a natural 
number of times in a minute. A quick pulse is one 
that strikes quickly ; thus a pulse may be quick and 
not frequent; it may beat only forty times in a 
minute and yet be very quick, or it may beat one 



58 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

hundred times in a minute and not be quick. When 
a person is suffering from a high fever, the pulse is 
quick and strong, and, generally, frequent also, or at 
least more frequent than is natural ; it is often hard 
and wiry, that is, -it thumps against your finger, and 
feels like a wire drawn tight and vibrating under 
your finger. There is also an intermitting pulse, 
which is a pulse that beats regularly for a number of 
beats, and then stops as long as it takes to make one 
or two beats ; this is generally the case in fevers, and 
indicates that there is some obstruction about the 
secretions. A running pulse is a pulse that is so fre- 
quent and so weak that you can not distinguish a 
beat, but it feels like a weak undulating line under 
your finger ; this is generally the case when a person 
is in a dying state, and is very weak. The pulse, as 
it grows weaker, will become more and more fre- 
quent ; first a hundred and twenty per minute, then 
a hundred and twenty-five, then a hundred and thirty, 
then a hundred and forty, then a hundred and fifty, 
then a hundred and sixty, then, just before the scene 
closes, you can count the beats no longer, and feel 
only a feeble running motion, which grows weaker 
every moment, until it ceases entirely, and life is 
extinct. 

Patients are sometimes said to have a bounding 
pulse, which is a pulse that strikes like a hammer, 
strong and powerful, it is also generally quick ; this 
is such a pulse as is found when a system is in a high 



THE TONGUE. 59 

state of arterial excitement, with some acute and 
active inflammation, or at the commencement of an 
inflammatory Fever. A tight pulse is one that beats 
as though it was tied, and could only go so far, 
making a violent effort for a powerful beat, then 
stopping short off, and ending in something like a 
jerk. A small pulse may be either quick or frequent, 
or both; but very weak, so much so that you can 
hardly feel it ; it indicates prostration of the system, 
either real or apparent. 

A little practice upon pulse feeling, counting the 
beats by a second hand, will enable any person of 
ordinary ability to become so far skilled as to be 
enabled at any time to decide whether a patient is in 
a dangerous condition or not. A small pulse, a 
hundred and thirty per minute, indicates great 
danger ; a hundred and sixty is almost certainly fatal. 

TONGUE. 

Next to the pulse, perhaps the condition of the 
tongue is the most certain to aid us in arriving at the 
state of the physical system ; both together will rarely 
fail in leading us to a correct decision in reference to 
the seat and nature of disease. Many diseases can be 
detected by the condition of the pulse and the tongue 
alone, without reference to any other symptoms ; yet, 
of course, this is far from being the case in all dis- 
eases. In fact, many diseases baffle all our efforts to 



60 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

arrive at a correct diagnosis, especially in the early 
stages. The symptoms are precisely alike in the 
first stages of Small Pox and ordinary Bilious Fevers. 
In Scarlet Fever, the eruption first appears at the 
roots of the tongue and in the throat, generally a day 
or two before it is seen upon the skin. Measles also 
are first seen in the throat. In a common Bilious 
Fever, the tongue, after a day or two, is covered with 
a thick, nasty yellow coat. In Typhus and Typhoid 
Fevers, the tongue is red and dry at first ; after a few 
days, a dark brown streak appears in the middle, 
which gradually extends over the tongue and becomes 
nearly black. In Inflammations, the tongue is dry 
and red, particularly about the edges. 

A white coat on the tongue simply indicates a 
slight irritation in the stomach, and is never of a 
dangerous character ; the coat is also white when a 
person is insane, and the health otherwise good. 

In all cases of fever, when the patient is about to 
recover, the coat on the tongue commences to loosen 
about the edges, and it appears moist and soft. 

EFFECTS OF LOCALITY UPON DISEASE. 

Physicians are very apt to overlook the effects of 
locality upon disease, and it would not be strange if 
the common people should do the same. 

If a person had been residing in a new country, 
where large quantities of new land were being culti- 



ISTUKSTNG THE SICK. 61 

vated, and where the diseases all assumed the periodic 
type, and should remove to an old country, where 
they were not subject to that type of disease, the 
proper treatment would be the same, precisely, as 
though the patient had remained at home. Many 
lives have been sacrificed for want of a proper under- 
standing of this principle. 

In the West it is absolutely necessary to discard 
the old theory of reducing the patient in order to 
subdue inflammation, fever, etc. It will not answer. 
It may still be proper in some mountainous places in 
high latitudes ; but in the West and South, the prin- 
ciples laid down in this work must be followed, or we 
will not be responsible for consequences. 

NUKSING THE SICK. 

In sickness, much depends upon good nursing. In 
fact, there are many cases where more depends upon 
that than upon the physician. The first qualification 
for a good nurse, is to do just what is directed by the 
physician, when one is called ; put all the responsi- 
bility upon him ; he will willingly take it, if he knows 
his directions will be earned out ; he ought not to, 
unless they are. The next, is to be able to see just 
what is wanted, and anticipate those wants, by doing 
what is needed without waiting for a request from the 
patient. See that every thing about the room, bed 
and clothes are perfectly clean ; see that the room is 



62 



THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 



well ventilated, but avoid drafts of air upon the 
patient; see that the bed is made smooth, and the 
pillows properly placed. Do not keep constantly 
asking the patient how he feels ; nothing is more irk- 
some to a person who is very sick, than to be obliged, 
every little while, to tell how he feels. Do not talk, 
unless the patient desires it, and not then, if you see 
it worries or tires him. When company is desirable, 
let it be of the most cheerful character. Never admit 
visitors who wish just to see the patient to gratify an 
idle curiosity. When a patient is very weak, nobody, 
but those absolutely necessary to give proper care, 
should be admitted. 

There are few sick persons who do not need wash- 
ing or sponging all over every day, with salt and 
water, spirits and water, or saleratus water. Every 
thing about a sick room should be quiet, and, at the 
same time, cheerful ; and every article necessary should 
be ready before it is wanted, that there may be no 
hurry or bustle. An easy chair, for patients who are 
able to sit up, should be arranged with a vessel under 
it, so that it can be placed and removed without 
disturbing the patient. Every family should have a 
good pump syringe, made of hard rubber, and a good 
bed-pan ; you do not know how soon you may need 
both. 



DIETING SICK PEOPLE 63 



BEEF TEA. 

Many people, when told to make beef tea, will boil 
up fat and lean beef, and even bones, and make a 
regular soup, with grease swimming upon the top. 
This is not fit for a sick person. The best beef tea 
is now made by taking a piece of Borden's condensed 
beef, about the size of a common walnut ; pour upon 
it a half-pint of boiling water, add a little salt, and it 
is ready for use. It may be made stronger or weaker, 
if desired. This article should be in every family ; it 
is not only invaluable in sickness, but it is very use- 
ful, and not bad to take when we are well. Elegant 
soup, broth or tea, can be made almost instantly, and 
we have all the nutriment of the beef without any 
grease. I do not suppose that Mr. Borden will pay 
me for advertising his business, but I would fail to do 
a plain duty if I did not mention this article. If you 
do not have this extract, and can not procure it, a 
good article of beef tea may be made as follows : 

Take any quantity of clear, lean beef, cut it into 
very fine pieces (the finer the better), put it into a 
glass bottle with a large mouth ; put the bottle into 
cold water over the stove, let it heat gradually, boil 
until the beef is perfectly cooked, squeeze out the 
juice and throw away the beef. This juice is very 
nourishing ; a tea-spoonful of it is worth more than a 
pint of broth ; it should be seasoned with salt only. 



64 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



BEEF BEOTH. 

This is made by boiling two ounces of lean beef 
two hours in one pint of water, and have half a pint 
when done. A table-spoonful of rice may be added 
before boiling. 

CHICKEN BROTH. 

Take the leg and wing of a half or two-thirds grown 
chicken, one table-spoonful of rice, one quart of water ; 
boil one hour, and have a pint when done; let it 
cool, and skim off every particle of oil. Season with 
salt only, when the patient is very low ; and add pep- 
per, if desired, in cases where the patient is convalesc- 
ing, and able to bear it. 

CHICKEN TEA. 

Take the leg and wing of a chicken, put into one 
pint of water ; boil fifteen to twenty minutes, skim off 
all the grease, and season with salt. 

Broths and teas may be made of mutton, and also 
of game. 

WATER GRUEL. 

Take a tea-spoonful of fresh corn meal, stir it into 
a quart of boiling water ; keep it boiling steadily for 



DIETED SICK PEOPLE. 65 

an hour, skimming off all that rises ; if it boils away 
to less than one pint, add more boiling water. Corn 
meal cooked less than an hour should never be given 
to a sick person, or any person having a weak 
stomach. 

Hasty pudding boiled less than an hour is not suit- 
able for any person to eat, and two hours is better 
than one. 

The practice of eating any sort of vegetable food 
scalded, or half-cooked, can not be too severely repre- 
hended. It is the cause of much sickness and many 
weak stomachs. 

CORN STARCH GRUEL. 

Take a table-spoonful of corn starch and a table- 
spoonful of flour ; mix thoroughly in a tea-cupful of 
fresh milk; pour upon this one quart of boiling 
water ; stir it continually, and let it boil ten minutes. 
Season with salt, sugar and nutmeg, to taste. If the 
patient is very low and weak, two quarts of boiling 
water should be added, and boiled down to one 
quart. 

BREAD COFFEE. 

Take a slice of bread as large as a man's hand,, 
toast it nicely (do not burn it) ; put four table-spoon- 
fuls of fresh milk into a quart bowl, add two table- 
spoonfuls of loaf sugar, then pour on one pint of boil- 
5 



66 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ing water ; cover it up tight, and let it cool. This 
makes a nourishing and palatable drink for the sick. 

COEN COFFEE. 

This should be made in the same way (don't burn 
the corn), without the milk and sugar. 

wine WHEY. 

Boil half a pint of new milk ; while it is boiling, 
put in a tea-cupful of white wine, stir it up, turn it 
into a bowl, and let it stand about ten minutes ; turn 
it off from the curd, and flavor it as you like, with 
sugar. A half-pint of this whey, when taken warm, 
in bed at night, will often procure perspiration, and 
relieve a severe cold. — Godey's Lady's Booh. 

This would make a good and nourishing stimulant. 

GELATINE. 

This is prepared for jellies by soaking over night 
in very little water ; allow one ounce for each quart 
of jelly. If the isinglass is not pure, it must be clari- 
fied. Mix, in half a pint of water, a tea-spoonful of 
the white of egg and a little lemon juice ; beat well, 
and stir it into two ounces of isinglass dissolved in 
half a pint of water ; heat these together gradually, 
constantly stirring ; remove all the scum, and pass it 
through a flannel bag. — Godey's Lady's Book. 



COOLING DRINKS. 67 

This may be used, in case of a very weak stomach, 
as an article of diet ; taken in small doses, it is often 
very refreshing to the stomach. 



STIMULANT NOURISHMENT FOR VERY WEAK PERSONS. 

Take one pound of good raisins, and the meats of 
one pound of soft-shelled almonds ; chop them until 
they are fine ; add a quart of boiling water, and boil 
one hour ; strain ; to one pound of loaf sugar, add a 
pint of good wine, and if there is not a quart of the 
mixture, add water enough to make a quart. This 
may be taken in doses of from one table-spoonful to a 
wine-glassful, and is oftentimes just what is needed in 
cases of long-continued sickness, where the patient is 
emaciated, and has little or no appetite. It is food 
and drink. 



COOLING DRINK FOR PERSONS WHO HAVE TAKEN SALT 
AND WATER FOR BLEEDING AT THE LUNGS. 

Pour a pint of boiling water upon a handful of 
common dried currants; let it cool, and drink as 
desired. It may be also used in cases of fever, where 
the patient is thirsty. 

Water poured upon tamarinds may be used for the 
same purpose. 

Or a pint of water poured upon an ounce of cream 



68 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN". 

of tartar, forms a cooling drink in such cases. The 
cream of tartar should be pure, and not the worthless 
article generally sold by grocers. 

There are many other articles that might be men- 
tioned, that are valuable as beverages, or as diet for 
the sick. A good nurse will know, as by intuition, 
what will be proper to give and what will not. 

When a patient is very sick with some acute dis- 
ease, he does not need food, but he does need nourish- 
ment in nearly every case ; and when he is very bad, 
as in cases of Typhoid Fever, etc., it is of the utmost 
importance that the nourishment be given regularly ; 
it is for such cases that we have given the directions 
above. There are many other articles that may be used, 
but it is absolutely necessary that the diet should be 
nourishing, and, at the same time, simple and easily 
digested. Many lives have been lost, in consequence 
of neglecting a proper course of nourishing diet. As 
a general rule, when a patient is suffering from chronic 
disease (unless that disease is in the stomach), he may 
eat what would agree with him when well ; but the 
quantity should be smaller, and he should avoid 
every thing that he finds by experience does not 
agree with him. He should not " live to eat, but eat 
to live." 



CHAPTER V. 

FEVEK. 

Passing- over the various scientific, ingenious and 
contradictory theories of medical writers, in regard to 
the cause and phenomena of fever, we will consider 
it as an effort of nature to remove the offending cause, 
and to restore and establish the healthy actions of the 
system, or the struggle of overpowered nature to 
produce such effort. Fever consists in an irregular, 
diseased action of the blood-vessels, generally pre- 
ceded, more or less, by chills, succeeded by heat, 
disorder of all the animal functions, thirst, and a feel- 
ing of weakness, or weariness, and attended with 
more or less pain in the head, back and limbs. It 
includes all inflammatory diseases, such as pleurisy, 
inflammation of the lungs, head, stomach and bowels, 
etc., and all eruptive diseases, such as small-pox, 
measles, scarlet fever, etc. 

For the sake of accuracv in treatment we distin- 
guish, in every form of fever, three varieties, which 
we will designate the inflammatory, the typhoid, and 
the typhus. The inflammatory is distinguished by an 
unusual degree of heat and thirst, a flushed counte- 
nance, hard breathing, a desire for cold drinks, and a 



70 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

quick, hard and full pulse. The typhoid is a medium 
between the inflammatory and the typhus, in which 
the powers of nature to produce reaction, or the 
inflammatory state, are partly overcome, but not 
entirely as in typhus. It is attended with increased 
heat, with pain and thirst, but not as steady or as 
violent as in the inflammatory. The pulse is not as 
much excited, and varies little from a healthy pulse, 
except, sometimes, a little fuller, and with a tense 
stroke, once in six or eight beats. The typhus 
variety exists when the powers of nature are too 
much overpowered by the strength, or the quantity 
of the exciting cause, to produce a complete effort to 
remove that cause ; and is characterized by a pulse, 
small, weak and generally frequent, little heat, vari- 
able and in spots; a brown or dark for on the 
tongue, or unnatural redness and dryness, great dis- 
turbance of the mind, and diminution of strength. 

P. S. 

INTERMITTENT FEVER 

Is characterized by successive periodical paroxysms 
of fever, each paroxysm consisting of three stages, the 
cold stage, or the chills, the hot stage, and the sweat- 
ing stage. 

When these paroxysms of fever occur every day, 
they are called quotidian, when on every other day, 
tertian, and when once in three days, a quartan. 

P. S. 



TREATMENT OF REMITTENT FEVER. 71 



REMITTENT FEVER. 

Bilious fever, or chill fever, is a continued fever, 
with very plain, periodical remissions and violence 
of symptoms, with manifest bilious derangement. 

Between intermittent and remittent fever there is 
no essential, or radical difference ; they proceed from 
the same cause, and differ only on account of the 
power and abundance of the cause, and the predis- 
posing condition of the patient. The fever may exist 
in the inflammatory, the typhoid, or the typhus state, 
and it may pass rapidly from one of these states to 
another, and the treatment should be applied accord- 
ingly. 

TREATMENT. 

Fevers generally commence with a cold stage. 
Equalize the circulation; apply warmth to the cold 
extremities ; give a Dover's powder, followed imme- 
diately by some warm, diaphoretic drink ; balm, sage, 
catnip, or pennyroyal tea. If there be much pain in 
the head, apply mustard drafts to the feet. If this 
is very violent let these drafts extend up on the legs. 
If the pain is in the chest, back, or sides, apply the 
mustard poultices over the pain. When the fever 
rises, the circulation is equalized, the flesh and skin 
is hot; the patient should then be washed, or sponged 



72 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

over, with some cooling wash, saleratus, a tea-spoonful 
to a pint of water, if the action be high ; or salt and 
water, or spirits and water, if the action be low. 
Continue, now, the Dover's powders, with the warm 
drinks, one in six hours, until the perspiration ap- 
pears and has become general, and if there be much 
thirst between the times of taking the powders, the 
patient may take, frequently, an effervescing draft 
of soda, bicarb., and tartaric acid, or a little lemonade, 
or a solution of cream of tarter, a tea-spoonful in a 
pint of boiling water, given when cold. After the 
perspiration is fairly established, the patient should 
take physic. Fifteen or twenty grains of calomel, 
with five or six grains of rhubarb; followed, in four 
hours, with a tea-spoonful of epsom salts, and a tea- 
spoonful of magnesia, in a gill of milk and water, 
once in two hours, until free discharges are produced. 
This brings away large quantities of vitiated bile, 
and prepares the patient for taking quinine. If the 
patient is prejudiced against the calomel, let him take 
some good* bilious pills instead of it ; for, although, 
calomel is the best physic to promote the action of 
the liver, and secure free bilious discharges, yet it is 
only admissible in the inflammatory variety of fever. 
In the typhoid variety we can do very well without 
it, and in the typhus variety it is positively injurious, 
and often fatal. During the intermissions, or remis- 
sions of fever, the patient should take the quinine in 
one grain doses ; a good way of administering it is to 



TREATMENT OF REMITTENT FEVER. 73 

mix quinine and rhubarb, equal parts, and make 
powders containing one grain of each, and give one, 
once in two hours, washed down with lemonade, wine 
and water, or cream of tartar solution, (cream tart., 
one oz., boiling water, one pint). After this, let the 
patient take the fever powders, once in six hours, with 
the diaphoretic tea, when the fever is high, and the 
quinine, one grain, once in two hours, when the fever 
is low, and physic a little, once in two days, with 
rhubarb and magnesia, a tea-spoonful of each, once in 
six hours, until it operates. The other medicine need 
not be stopped. After the paroxysms of fever have 
ceased, the quinine may be prepared with brandy, one 
gill, quinine, thirty grains, sugar, four oz., tart, acid, 
thirty grains, and water, three gills. Dose, a table- 
spoonful. As the fever abates, it may be given less 
frequently, once in three hours, then in four hours, 
then three times a day ; after the fever is gone, until 
health is restored. Unless the patient is very bad 
the quinine may be omitted at night, after bed-time, 
and an anodyne (a Dover's powder) may be given, 
if necessary, to promote rest. 

In very rapid and urgent cases, where it seems 
necessary to make a sudden impression, one larger 
dose of quinine may be given, at first, say from two 
to five grains ; but the practice of giving repeatedly 
such large doses, as many do, is objectionable, inju- 
rious, and never necessary. 

N. B. — After giving the physic, which I would 



74 



THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



prefer to be bilious pills, rather than calomel, I give 
four grains of quinine, with one-eighth of a grain of 
morphine, once in four hours, until twenty grains 
have been given — then proceed as directed. I think 
this course most sure to break up the fever immedi- 
ately. 

It is often the case that remittent fever returns, 
after having been broken up. If the patient takes a 
little too much exercise, eats a little more than com- 
mon, or is out late at night, it may return at stated 
periods, once in ten, fifteen or twenty days. I have 
seen many cases that had been broken up with qui- 
nine, that would return in this way, for months, and 
perhaps years, until the patient would, impatiently, 
declare that he wouid take no more quinine, it was 
only killing him, etc., etc. The fact is, the fault is 
not in quinine, but in the patient, or the physician, 
or person who has prepared it. There is no remedy 
so sure to destroy ague, or remittent fever; but it 
must be given at the proper time, in conjunction with 
other medicines, and continued until every vestige 
of the disease is destroyed. If the disease has con^ 
tinued some time, and returned from time to time, the 
only way to effect a certain cure, is to prevent the 
return of a single paroxysm ; for this purpose, take 
quinine bitters, as follows : You will know when it is 
time for the shake, commence with the bitters three 
days before it is time, and continue them three days 
after the time for the paroxysm to appear. Continue 



TYPHOID FEVEK. 75 

this course for months, until the habit of periodical 
return is completely broken up. This will make an 
effectual cure ; it will cost something, in time and 
money, but there is no other way so cheap. Don't 
buy any patent medicines, but pursue this course, and 
you will never again fear fever and ague. If the fever 
has become chronic, and there is what is called an 
ague cake (enlargement of the spleen), in the left side 
of the bowels, Alden's drops should be taken three 
times per day, until the " cake " is gone. Keep the 
bowels open, with corrective pills or rhubarb syrup. 

S. P. S. 

TYPHOID FEVEE. 

When the fever is of the typhoid variety, give the 
diaphoretic powders and the warm drink mentioned 
above, once in six hours, when the fever is high, and 
the quinine, as directed above, when the fever is off, 
or light; and physic with magnesia and salts, or 
magnesia and rhubarb, once in two days — observing 
to counteract severe pain with drafts and mustard 
poultices, as before directed/ In this variety, blisters 
may be applied to the extremities, if other modes of 
counteraction appear too feeble. This may be espe- 
cially necessary when there is strong determination 
to the head. Use washing or sponging when the 
skin is hot. P. S. 



76 



THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



TYPHUS FEVER. 

In typhus fever there is great debility. The 
powers of nature are overcome with the strength of 
the attacking enemy. The fever struggles to rise and 
cast out the foe, but it can not rise in full strength, 
but only in fitful struggles. The mind is wandering, 
delirious, or stupid. The breathing is hurried or 
laborious ; the breath is foetid. The tongue is coated 
with a brown or black fur. The pulse is generally 
small, quick and frequent. The extremities and sur- 
face cool. The countenance pale, except sometimes 
circumscribed spots of redness in the face, and, occa- 
sionally, purple spots in other parts of the body. 
Now be careful, doctor, nurse, or friend, what you do. 

TREATMENT OF TYPHUS FEVER. 



The patient will* not die, if treated rightly, unless 
some fatal lesion of some vital part exist. Do not 
kill the patient with medicine. Strong physic, 
drastic purges, will do it. Calomel will do it. One 
grain of it in your powders, is injurious, is fatal in 
its tendency. Use no strong and weakening emetics. 
Bleeding is fatal. " What will you do \ " This you 
can do : see that your patient is warm in bed, with 
warm feet, then give a tea-spoonful or two of pare- 
goric, in a little warm sage tea, sweetened, if pre- 
ferred, wait ten or fifteen minutes, then give an easy 



TKEATMEOT OF TYPHUS FEVEE. 77 

emetic, say ten grains of ipecac, or its strength of 
emetine, with ten grains of sulphate of zinc, stirred 
up in a little strong sage tea, pretty sweet, once in 
ten minutes, until the patient has vomited twice 
pretty freely, giving some of the sage tea every time 
he vomits. After vomiting let him take a cup of 
hyson tea. In three hours after vomiting the last 
time, give a laxative of rhubarb and magnesia, say a 
tea-spoonful of each, stirred up in sweetened water, 
thin, so that it can be easily taken ; repeat this once 
in six hours, until it operates. If it does not operate 
after two or three doses, it may be assisted with an 
injection. You need not wait for the laxative to 
operate before you begin with the quinine ; a good 
form is the quinine bitters, formerly mentioned, or 
the quinine powder, with the wine after it, may be 
given; in either case, it should be given in grain 
doses, once in two hours, and some light nourishment 
should be given after each dose. In lighter cases, it 
is sufficient to give the quinine through the day and 
until bed time, and then an anodyne may be given, 
to promote rest through the night; but in severe and 
very malignant or rapid cases, the quinine should be 
continued through the night. It may be given, if 
the patient is restless and uneasy, in combination with 
opium, or morphine and ipecac, or with Dover's pow- 
ders. 

Let the patient have a good, kind nurse ; be kept 
quiet, in a large, well- ventilated room, just warm 



78 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

enough to be comfortable to the attendants, with no 
more company than is necessary to take proper care ; 
except, at lucid intervals, a prudent, quiet and valued 
friend may be admitted, for a shorter or longer time, 
according to its effects on the spirits and strength of 
the patient. The patient should be kept clean, and 
every thing about him and about the room. The 
strength must be supported with proper nourishment ; 
beef tea, chicken broth, with rice boiled in it, boiled 
milk, milk porridge, farina, etc. When the strength 
and pulse flags, at the crisis, or at any other time, 
give wine whey, wine and water, wine or brandy, or 
brandy-sling, according to the condition or require- 
ment of the patient, judging by the pulse. P. S. 

N". B. — At the commencement of all these diseases, 
I would give quinine in four grain doses, once in six 
hours, when the fever is off or low, until thirty grains 
have been taken, then proceed as directed by father. 
I have ever practiced this. I think it makes an 
impression upon the disease, and often breaks it up, 
if not, I think it shortens its career; but either 
method will succeed ; have no fears, only watch the 
symptoms closely, and combat every tendency of the 
disease to locate upon any vital organ, particularly 
the brain. I never lost a patient with this disease 
alone, neither did father, but still I prefer a few large 
doses on the start. You may have many long and 
anxious days and nights to watch, but do not fear the 
result; and if you employ a physician, study well 



CASE OF BAD TEEATMENT. 79 

this treatment, and see and know that it is followed ; 
here is safety, with any other course, there is danger. 

CASE OF A PATIENT, SICK WITH FEVEE, ALMOST KILLED 
BY BAD TEEATMENT, FINALLY EESCUED. 

An English clergyman, of the Independent persua- 
sion, was officiating in the place where I was prac- 
ticing medicine, in the year 1827. He was a fine and 
quite gifted old man, but had rubbed against the 
aristocracy of old England, and peeped into the com- 
pany of the Tory swells, enough to become contami- 
nated with that despicable hauteur, which is so dis- 
gusting to Americans. I, unfortunately, had fallen 
under his displeasure, having, in several instances, 
infringed upon his haughtiness. On one occasion, he 
was descanting on the comparative deficiency and 
feebleness of American intellect. He said : " The 
Americans have not the strength of mind, the sound 
brains of the English ; they can not have, the climate 
will not admit of it." To which philippic, I meekly 
replied : That I was not very well informed in regard 
to the remarkable influence of the climate of England. 
I had only learned that the depressing November 
fogs of that country were thought to be the occasion 
of the extraordinary number of suicides there. 

Again, when he had opened a business meeting 
with the pompous declaration : " We are all on an 
equality here ; there are no superiors, and no inferiors 



80 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

here ; every man has a right to his opinion ; and I 
hope every man will speak his mind freely ;" I had 
the temerity to differ from him on the subject before 
us. He became my inveterate enemy. Although he 
had been very urgent to have me stop in this place, 
saying, with almost fulsome flattery, " You must come 
and settle among us ; we want a physician here that 
has brains," yet he now opposed me in every way 
possible. 

A brother Englishman came into the place, and 
was immediately taken with fever and ague. He was 
of sanguine temperament, and had a vigorous consti- 
tution, and had the disease in its full force. My 
reverend opponent directed him to send several miles 
for a physician, who seldom did much for his patients 
but bleed them. He bled him every time his fever 
came on. His paroxysms were earlier every day, 
and became more violent each time. The man that 
lived in the same house where the patient was, had 
confidence in me ; knew something of my mode of 
treatment, and believed he would die with his present 
treatment. He came to me, and insisted upon my 
going to see him. Loth to interfere with another's 
patient, I went reluctantly with the man. I found 
the patient in high fever, with a round, full pulse, very 
compressible, and in a state of perfect stupor, with heavy 
breathing and frequent deep sighs. To the question, 
" What do you think of him ?" I replied, " If he lives 
through this paroxysm, he will die in the next." 



SCARLET FEVER. 81 

" Can nothing be done for him ?" " He possibly 
might be saved with right treatment," I said. " Well, 
you must tell me what to do," said he, " and give the 
medicine, and I will see that he has it." " Well," I 
said, " wash him all over immediately with carbonate 
of potash, in water a little warm ; put strong mustard 
drafts to his feet and legs, a mustard plaster on his 
chest, and wet his head with cold spirits and water, 
keeping the head cool and the feet warm ; and if he 
conies out of this paroxysm, call on me and I will give 
you some medicine." He came over in a few hours, 
and said the patient had come to himself. I gave 
him my quinine bitters and some Dover's powders, 
and directed him to give a table-spoonful of the bit- 
ters, once in two hours, while the fever was off; and 
the powders, once in six hours, while the fever was 
on. A few days after that, the sick man, with much 
apparent gratitude, came to thank me for saving his. 
life. P. S. 

SCAELET FEVER (SCARLATINA). 

Scarlet Fever is a disease that has prevailed for a 
long time throughout the civilized world, destroying 
children by thousands. Medical writers describe 
three varieties of Scarlet Fever : 

Simple Scarlet Fever (Scarlatina simplex) ; 

Scarlet Fever with sore throat (Scarlatina anginosa); 

Malignant Scarlet Fever (Scarlatina maligna). 

The Scarlet Fever is what is commonly called 
6 



82 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Canker-Rash. In its simplest form there is not much 
soreness in the throat, and only a scarlet redness in 
the fauces (back part of the throat). The most 
malignant variety has commonly gone by the name 
of Putrid Sore Throat. 

Medical men differ on the subject of the cause of 
Scarlet Fever. Some think it is an epidemic disease, 
and others consider it is contagious. A great majority 
are of the latter opinion. It matters not which is 
correct, if the immediate proximate cause is under- 
stood. 

The first symptoms observed are general debility, 
some nausea, sometimes increased to vomiting, slight 
chills, followed, finally, by considerable heat and 
thirst. In from two to six days the rash appears ; 
first, about the face and neck, and, within twenty-four 
hours, extends over the whole body, also in the 
nostrils, inside of the eyelids, and through the whole 
mouth, a scarlet redness appears. This scarlet redness 
may generally be seen in the back of the throat, at 
the commencement or previous to the commencement 
of the other symptoms. 

The proximate cause of the disease seems to be in 
the stomach, in which a g^tinous and very tenacious 
slime is secreted, which is the cause of all the suc- 
ceeding symptoms. The method of effecting a cure, 
therefore, is to remove the offending cause, and to 
change the action of the stomach, which produces that 
cause, both of which are fulfilled by the following 



TREATMENT OF SCARLET FEVER. 83 

treatment : First, give an emetic. This must be of 
something that will not act drastically, as physic, 
upon the bowels, which would be fatal, or very injuri- 
ous. A good emetic is blue vitriol and ipecac. I 
prepare half a tea-cupful of strong sage tea, well 
sweetened, add four grains of blue vitriol, pulverized, 
two tea-spoonfuls of spirits, and twelve grains of 
ipecac, for a child two years old. Let the patient be 
prepared, by being made warm, especially the feet, 
and by giving some warm drink, such as sage tea ; 
then give one-fourth part of the emetic, once in twenty 
minutes, until the patient has vomited freely two or 
three times. After each vomiting, give plentifully 
of the weak sage tea. Three hours after the vomit- 
ing ceases, give, in a little sugar and water, a tea- 
spoonful of a mixture of magnesia and rhubarb, two 
parts by bulk of magnesia to one of rhubarb, once in 
six hours, until it moves the bowels. If the first dose 
should be vomited, wait a few minutes and give 
another. 

The above mentioned course dislodges the viscid 
cause of the disease from the stomach and bowels, 
and, if administered early enough, in nine cases out 
of ten, breaks up the disease entirely. The disease 
may be discovered by the scarlet redness in the back 
part of the throat, before any other symptom is mani- 
fested, when the above treatment will prevent all fur- 
ther manifestation of it. When the above is applied 
in season, and is successful, the after treatment is 



84 THE HOUSE WE LIVE 1ST. 

very simple. Half a pint of sage tea, sweetened, a tea- 
spoonful of bicarbonate of soda, and a table-spoonful 
of paregoric; give half a table-spoonful once in two 
hours. When the disease has not been arrested in 
the beginning, and the throat is affected with sores 
and ulcers, use the following gargle : Blue vitriol 
thirty grains, myrrh thirty grains, water one-half 
pint, honey or loaf sugar one ounce. If malarious 
diseases prevail, give a tea-spoonful of quinine bitters 
once in three hours. P. S. 

If the tongue is coated with a brown or yellow coat, 
the quinine bitters should be given from the first. 



" MISPLACED IOTEKMITTENTS." 

This is not a scientific name for any disease or dis- 
eases, but it is a name which we have given to a large 
number of diseases which are caused by " marsh efflu- 
via," or which make their appearance in newly-settled 
countries, where the land is for the first time being 
brought under cultivation in large quantities. In 
such localities, nearly every disease will partake, more 
or less, of the periodic type; that is, it will have 
paroxysms, or particular times, each day or every 
other day, of being worse. All these diseases need 
quinine ; nothing has been revealed to the world yet 
that can take its place. I might say, in these com- 
plaints, there is no salvation without it ; and as in 
these localities all diseases partake more or less of this 



"misplaced imtekmittents." 85 

periodic tendency, and all are affected more or less by 
this " marsh effluvia," all need quinine ; whatever 
other medicine they may need, they need this too. 
Thousands of physicians have failed, through a want 
of this knowledge. I confess I would consider the 
Materia Medica nearly worthless, if it did not include 
this sublime medicine. We could spare any other 
article better than this one. If a person is afflicted 
with any disease whatever, and the tongue is coated 
with a brown coat, and the symptoms are worse one 
part of the day than another, they always need qui- 
nine ; it will always do them good ; many times they 
would die without it. Does a person have the tooth- 
ache at the same hour every day ? Quinine, in proper 
doses, will cure it. Do you have neuralgia in the 
head or face at a particular hour every day ? Quinine 
bitters will cure it. Does a person have the itch, or 
any other disease of the skin, and the ordinary reme- 
dies fail to cure ? Give the quinine bitters, and a cure 
is rapidly effected. 

I need not go on ; I have said enough so that my 
meaning will be understood, and to show why, in the 
West, quinine is needed in nearly every disease. I 
have seen a bad cut, that would not heal for months ; 
after taking quinine for a few days, it commenced to 
heal rapidly. Of course other medicines are needed 
beside quinine. The bowels must be kept open in all 
diseases ; and in diseases of the skin, alteratives must 
be used to cleanse the blood, such as iodide of potas- 



86 ' THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN". 

sium, etc., as directed in particular cases. Sound 
judgment must be used in every case. 

If a patient is taken sick in any part of the country, 
even where marsh diseases do not prevail, it is well 
to inquire if he has been traveling in a marshy 
country, or a new country, or if there has been any 
large amount of animal or vegetable decay about 
where he or she resides ; if so, quinine is needed, east 
or west, north or south. Fever we believe to be 
fever, whatever it may be called, and the cause is 
debility of the system ; and the fever is high (as in 
Inflammatory or Bilious), or low (as in Typhoid or 
Typhus), according to the amount of vital life-force 
existing at the time of its occurrence, in the particu- 
lar patient. (See Fever.) Hence tonics, like qui- 
nine, are necessary in all fevers ; and medicines that 
reduce the system, like calomel and antimony, often 
make a Typhoid Fever out of a fever which was 
plainly Bilious at the commencement, and which 
would have remained so, until cured, if it had been 
properly treated. But we did not intend here to 
write a treatise on fevers, and will close by saying that 
we call all diseases misplaced intermittents which evi- 
dently take the place of an intermittent fever, a thing 
which frequently occurs. I have often seen persons 
suffer from Headache or Toothache, for two or three 
hours, or more, every day. If they had a little more 
" marsh effluvia" — a predisposing cause of fever — in 



YELLOW FEVER. 87 

the system, they would have Ague and Fever in place 
of the Headache or Toothache. 

All diseases that manifest themselves in this way 
are cured better by quinine than by any other remedy. 
It is the medicine of America, given by a merciful 
God to help us to counteract the influences of the 
flood, sent as a punishment for our sins or the sins of 
our fathers. 

YELLOW FEVER. 

This disease has been the subject of endless contro- 
versy among medical men, differing in relation to its 
nature, its cause, and its treatment ; some strongly 
urging its contagious character, others as vehemently 
asserting its miasmatic origin ; some strenuously recom- 
mending an active treatment of bleeding, calomel, and 
active purgation ; others, condemning all harsh treat- 
ment, advise nothing but the mildest and most sooth- 
ing remedies. Having no experience with Yellow 
Fever as it exists in our Southern States, it is pre- 
sumed that I shall not be supposed qualified to give 
reliable advice in relation to its treatment. 

In Oneida county, in the State of New York, there 
is a flat region of country lying between the sluggish 
stream of Wood Creek and the Erie Canal, and in 
their vicinity. In the hot season of the year, the 
inhabitants of this region are much subject to disease, 
which is there called the Lake Fever, which is a vio- 
lent form of Bilious Eemittent Fever. Before the 



88 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

proper treatment was well understood, it was very 
fatal, hundreds dying annually, many in the first, and 
more in the second paroxysm of the disease. The 
disease, in many instances, exhibited all the symptoms 
described as symptoms of Yellow Fever ; the nausea, 
the irritability of the stomach, the black vomit, and 
the yellow appearance of the skin, were all well 
marked. This disease was finally conquered, and the 
fatality of it almost or entirely prevented, by the 
treatment laid down in this treatise for the cure of 
Bilious Remittent Fever. Besides the quinine and 
brandy during the intermission, in urgent and appar- 
ently rapid cases, we frequently, without waiting to 
evacuate the stomach and bowels, begin with a dose 
of iive grains of quinine, washed down with thirty or 
forty drops of dilute sulphuric acid, in half a gill of 
sweetened water ; then follow with emetic, cathartic, 
Dover's powder, quinine, and brandy, and equalizing 
the circulation and allaying the irritation of the 
stomach, as stated in Bilious Fever. The balance of 
testimony is, that Yellow Fever is of miasmatic origin, 
and should be treated accordingly. P. S. 

NERVOUS FEVER. 

Persons who are troubled with weak nerves, or 
those who have been worn out with severe labor, 
great anxiety, long watching, or any thing else that 
produces debility of the nervous system, are liable to 



NEKVOUS FEVEK. 89 

this disease, or what would receive this name. It 
can not be called a disease by itself, but a person sick 
with any of the fevers named, whose nerves were in 
the condition named, would be said to suffer from 
Bilious Nervous Fever, Nervous Typhoid, etc. The 
fever should be treated according to the directions for 
treating that type of fever which manifests itself, and 
the nervous symptoms should be treated with the 
proper remedies for nervousness. Valerian, either the 
root made into a strong tea, or the fluid extract, may 
be used in such cases, in connection with the proper 
remedies for fever. 



CHAPTER VI. 



INFLAMMATORY DISEASES. 



All inflammatory diseases are fevers, with a deter- 
mination to the particular part inflamed, and are to 
be treated in the same manner as we treat general 
fever, observing the same distinction of the different 
varieties — Inflammatory, Typhoid and Typhus — 
making use, in addition, of such counteracting appli- 
cations as the locality of the inflammation may 
require. 

Inflammation of the Head is characterized by vio- 
lent pain in the head, generally attended with more 
or less nausea or vomiting, redness of the eyes, flushed 
face, commonly with delirium, which is some times 
very violent; wakefulness, light and sound disturb 
the patient ; the pulse is hard and frequent, and, at 
first, generally full. The treatment must be active ; 
follow the treatment of fever, according to the variety. 
If it is of the Inflammatory type, and the pulse is 
strong and heavy, bleed and physic thoroughly ; 
strong mustard drafts and warmth to the feet and 
legs, with cold applications to the head, and the head 
raised somewhat on the pillows. If the disease is 
unyielding, cup the temples, apply a blister to the 



INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 91 

back of the neck or behind each ear, and a mustard 
plaster over the chest. It may be the patient now is 
cured ; but, if the disease is only checked, and some 
of the symptoms remain, continue the treatment in a 
more moderate way; keep the bowels open with 
milder laxatives. Epsom salts and magnesia, of each 
a tea-spoonful, once in two hours, until it operates, will 
answer well ; a small blister on the inside of each log, 
just above the ankle, should be drawn, and, in two 
or three days, if necessary, they may be applied just 
above the calf of the leg, on the inside ; let the diet 
be light, beef-tea taken once in three hours, bread gruel, 
milk porridge, boiled rice, chicken tea, etc. 

If complete remissions should take place, alternat- 
ing with paroxysms of fever, we should give quinine, 
once in three hours, when the fever is off, and a 
Dover's powder, once in six hours, when the fever is 
on. P. S. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 

The fever, in Acute Inflammation of the Eyes, is to 
be treated on general principles, with the proper 
local and counteracting applications added. Now, be 
careful what you apply to the eyes ; they are very 
tender organs. Patients often come to me with eyes 
entirely ruined by improper and harsh applications 
while inflamed. Nothing should be applied that 
gives pain, or much smarting. The application 
should not be very cold or very warm. If too warm, 



92 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

it increases inflammatory action, and the flow of blood 
and humors to the parts ; if too cold, a reaction takes 
place, and the heat and inflammation is increased. Let 
the application, therefore, be about blood heat, or a 
very little below, and of the mildest kind. Milk and 
water, an infusion of slippery-elm bark and sour butter- 
milk, for a change, is sometimes advantageous. The 
eyes should be kept constantly wet, by being covered 
with soft linen, folded in three or four thicknesses, 
wet, and so frequently changed as to prevent the eyes 
from becoming dry or hot. Physic is necessary, 
according to the variety of fever that exists ; Epsom 
salts and magnesia are generally appropriate. Coun- 
ter, action is important — drafts to the feet; keep 
them warm and the head cool. If the inflammation 
does not promptly yield to the above treatment, 
blisters should be applied to the back of the neck or 
behind the ears. 

It frequently happens that the patient is bilious, 
and would have Fever and Ague, or some other form 
of Bilious Fever, but the disease goes to the eyes ; and 
this may be known by the exacerbations and remis- 
sions — that is, the patient is for some hours each day, 
or every other day, much worse, and the other part 
of the twenty-four hours comparatively comfortable. 
In this case, add to the above that treatment which is 
directed in Intermittent Fever, viz. : quinine bitters, 
once in three hours, when the pain or fever is light, 



CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 93 

and fever powders (Dover's powders) when the pain 
or fever is on. P. S. 



CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 

Acute Inflammation of the eyes frequently leaves 
them in a state of Chronic Inflammation, which con- 
sists, generally, of inflammation of the small glands 
of the inside of the eyelids, forming rough granula- 
tions, which, constantly rubbing against the ball of 
the eye, keep up a continual irritation. 

Treatment : The general health must be restored 
on general principles. A mild astringent wash, fre- 
quently applied through the day, and an alterative 
wash once a day (see Recipes) ; or, touch the granu- 
lations, once a day, with a smooth crystal of blue 
vitriol. If the case prove obstinate, irritation should 
be kept up behind the ears or back of the neck. 

Case. — About the year 1835, in Westmoreland, 
Oneida county, New York, I was called, in the latter 
part of the night, to go about Hve miles, to see Noah 

R , who was said to be in great pain, and had 

been all night, so much so that one eye had burst 
open, and they wished me to go as soon as possible. 
I saw him soon after daylight. I found him in great 
distress ; he had not slept any through the night, and 
was completely discouraged. It was winter ; I was 
cold with my ride ; I gave him an anodyne, Dover's 
powder and paregoric, and went out by the Are to 



94 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

warm. He was at his father's house. His father 
was a Quaker, a fore handed and respectable farmer. 
From his mother and himself I soon learned his his- 
tory. Six years before this, he was married. His 
father gave him $1,300 to begin with. He bought 
a boat on the Erie Canal, which plied through the 
Montezuma Swamp, back and forth, all summer, 
and brought him a handsome profit; and although 
most of his hands were taken down with Fever and 
Ague, or Bilious Fever, he exultingly escaped ; but 
in the winter following, a kind of inflammation of the 
eyes, which was thought to be contagious, prevailed. 
He took the disease, and it was very violent. He 
tried many doctors and many things, but the disease 
clung to him. His summer earnings were soon spent, 
and he was obliged to sell his boat. He visited all 
the eye 'infirmaries he could hear of; he went to 
Rochester, Albany, New York, Boston, Philadelphia 
and Baltimore; but these respectable and often 
remarkably successful institutions, failed to give more 
than a temporary relief, probably not considering it a 
case of Misplaced Intermittent. 

His countenance was of a bilious hue. His tongue 
was coated with a light, dull yellowish fur. His eye- 
balls had no appearance of eyes, but were covered 
with granulations, and had the appearance of lean 
meat. The left eye was diminished, so that I be- 
lieved, as he did, that it had burst open during the 
night. I said, " Well, Noah, your eyes are very bad, 



CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 95 

indeed. Can you discern daylight from darkness ?" 
" Yes," he said ; " and with my right eye I can dis- 
cern when a person is passing before me. Do you 
believe you can do any thing for me ? I have given 
up the idea of having my eyes cured ; but, if you can 
do any thing to relieve my distress, I shall be glad." 
I said, " I think the great reason why your prescrib- 
es have not succeeded, is probably because they have 
not attended sufficiently to the improvement of the 
general health. The seeds of disease are in the sys- 
tem, and must be removed before the eyes can be 
cured. Now, I have strong objections against pre- 
scribing for you, unless I can have the sole charge of 
you, at least six months ; because, if you continue as 
you have hitherto proceeded, you are sure to be help- 
lessly blind, and I choose to have no hand in it ; but 
I sincerely sympathize with you, and shall be glad to 
benefit you, if I am able. I have hope that the dis- 
ease may be arrested, and you be so far restored as to 
be able to see to walk the street without running 
against the fence." " Well," says he, " I wish you 
would take the charge of me, but it must be as father 
says." His father soon came in, and inquired, " What 
will thee do for him ?" I explained to him my views 
of the case, and gave him an outline of the treatment 
which I proposed to adopt. " Well," he says, " thee 
may try." I proceeded to give an emetic of ipecac 
and sulphate of zinc, of each fifteen grains, dissolved 
in a little strong sage tea ; after vomiting, he drank 



96 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

freely of weak sage tea. In twenty minutes after 
taking the emetic, lie took the second dose, and 
vomited freely. I inserted a seton in the back of the 
neck, and gave twenty grains of calomel, with six 
grains of Dover's powder, to be taken three hours 
after the vomit is done operating, to be followed, in 
two hours, with rhubarb and magnesia, to be repeated 
in six hours, if the bowels are not freely moved by 
the first dose. I added the following directions: 
" After the physic has operated, take quinine bitters, 
a table-spoonful, once in three hours through the day, 
when you have but little pain or fever, not more than 
you now have ; if you have much pain or fever, take 
a Dover's powder, with some warm tea after it. See 
that your feet are kept warm and the head cool. 
Keep the eyes wet through the day, with soft water 
and milk, by wetting with soft linen cloths, folded 
to the thickness of three or four folds, and applied 
neither very cold nor very hot, but a little below 
blood heat, and changed as often as they become too 
dry or too warm ; and, at bed time, apply a poultice 
of some simple moist and cooling material, such as 
the pulp of raw potato, scraped fine, placed between 
two pieces of fine linen, or you may use the pulp of a 
baked sweet apple, or a boiled turnip. After this 
day, take a blue pill every other night, and three cor- 
rective pills the next morning. Continue the above 
course until I see you again. There is nothing to be 
done with the seton until it begins to discharge. 



CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES. 97 

Now, take courage ; I have strong hopes of doing as 
well for you as I told you, and perhaps better." 

I visited him in five days, and found him much 
encouraged. He had observed the directions faith 
fully, and had been comparatively comfortable. The 
seton began to discharge ; we dressed it, and I directed 
it to be dressed and washed with Castile soap and 
water, and the string turned, every day. I then 
touched the granulations on the inflamed eye-lids, 
which produced considerable pain, and we washed 
them, as soon as possible, with milk and water. 

The whole of the above treatment, with the daily 
application of the blue vitriol, was continued a month, 
without much variation. At the end of that time, I 
said to him, " Well, Noah, I shall do better for you 
than I promised; you will be able to read coarse 
print." He was much encouraged and elated. He 
was able to see the windows, and could discern per- 
sons passing by him ; and could discern light nearly 
as well with the left eye, that was supposed to have 
burst, as with the other. His tongue was clean,, 
and his appetite pretty good. I now stopped the 
quinine bitters, and directed him to take two table- 
spoonfuls of cascarilla bitters, three times a day,, 
before meals ; stopped the blue pill, and ordered cor- 
rective pills, every night when the bowels had not 
moved freely within the last twenty-four hours — 
enough to move the bowels in the course of the next 
day, probably from three to five. I also gave him 
1 



98 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

two kinds of eye- water, which I call my common eye- 
water and alterative eye- water ; the alterative to be 
applied once a day, and the common to be applied 
several times a day. I gave him, besides, a box of 
my salt rheum and itch ointment, to smear the edges 
of 'the eye-lids, and a little between the lids, on going 
to bed. He observed all these directions punctually. 
He was able to walk about in the neighborhood, was 
in good spirits and full of hope. 

After another month, I had the satisfaction to tell 
him that he would become still better than I last pro- 
mised him. He would be able to read fine print. 
The last treatment, without much variation, was con- 
tinued; the seton lasted six months, and his eyes 
were as good as ever, both of them ; and he never 
forgets to express his gratitude to me, or to recom- 
mend me to every person he meets, that has diseased 
eyes. P. S. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, AND PLEURISY. 

Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, which is 
the membrane lining the inside of the chest, and 
covering the lungs and all the viscera of the chest. 
In Pleurisy, a violent pain is felt in the chest, gene- 
rally on one side, with a stitch or catch of pain on 
coughing, or on taking a long breath. When the 
substance of the lungs is the seat of the inflammation, 
the pain is more obtuse or dull, but the breathing is 



INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. §d 

much oppressed, and the pain is generally under the 
breast bone, but some times in one side, or under the 
shoulder-blade. A cough generally attends diseases 
of the chest. In Pleurisy, it is more short and dry ; 
in Inflammation of the Lungs, it is frequently attended 
with a viscid phlegm. In both cases, the phlegm 
often appears bloody, which I have not found to be 
an unfavorable symptom, unless it was clear blood, 
unmixed with phlegm. 

The treatment of the different forms of inflamma- 
tion of the chest is similar. Fever always attends ; 
it may be inflammatory, typhoid or typhus, and must 
be treated accordingly. The different varieties are 
distinguished principally by the pulse, assisted by 
the concomitant symptoms. In the inflammatory 
variety, the pulse is hard, full and quick ; the face is 
flushed, the tongue is covered with a thick, white fur, 
the skin hot and dry, and the urine high-colored and 
scanty. With the typhoid variety, the pulse is more 
nearly natural, with now and then a tense stroke ; 
the flushed face is less prominent, and color not so 
equally diffused over the face, but appears more in 
spots. In the typhus variety, the pulse is small and 
frequent; the countenance pale, with, frequently, a 
circumscribed red spot on the cheek ; great debility, 
and, sometimes, delirium. 

The treatment of these diseases is the same as the 
treatment of fever, according to the variety which 
prevails, with the addition of suitable and proper 



100 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

counter-action, or external irritation. In the inflam- 
matory condition, bleeding may be proper, and often 
is most important, and the great remedy to be relied 
on; but this is not often the case, in this climate. 
The most common variety here is the typhoid. In 
this region, a kind of Bilious Pleurisy frequently 
occurs, which seems to be a combination of Bilious 
Remittent Fever with Pleurisy, and is, probably, pro 
duced by the combined causes of Bilious Fever and 
sudden vicissitudes of weather, and is to be treated 
by a combination of the treatment of those diseases. 
All of these forms of diseases of the chest, with their 
treatment, will be more fully elucidated by the fol- 
lowing cases. P. S. 
Case 1. Pleurisy with Inflammatory Fever. — 

January 17th, 1837, G. "W. L , "Westmoreland, 

Oneida county, New York, aged nineteen, came home 
in the afternoon, towards night, from the woods, 
where he had been chopping firewood. He com- 
plained of being very chilly, some pain in the head, 
and pain all over, with frequently a sharp stitch of 
pain in the right side. He went to bed, and took 
some warm drink ? but the pain in the side increased 
rapidly, with high fever, and the breathing, on account 
of the pain in his side, very distressing. Old Dr. 
P -, a fine old man, and a good physician, cele- 
brated for his skill in treating fevers and inflammatory 
diseases, who had formerly for a long time resided in 
this town, happened to be in the neighborhood, and 



LNTLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 101 

was called in to see this young man. He staid with 
him all night, but he grew worse, and in the morn- 
ing I, six miles off, was sent for. 

I found him bolstered up in bed, with great pain 
in his side, very painful respiration, high fever, skin 
dry and hot, countenance flushed and almost purple, 
with a pulse, full, strong, and with bounding rapidity. 
The old doctor sat in the room watching my motions. 
I turned to him and observed, " There is strong action, 
doctor, high inflammation ; what have you done for 
him ?" " Well," says he, " I thought I would try the 
new treatment. The Thompsonian, lobelia and pep- 
per practice, was a new thing, and had taken with 
many, and a pepper doctor in the county had been 
extolled, as doing with lobelia what physicians did by 
bleeding, and doing it better." The old doctor had 
tried it thoroughly, through the night. " Well," says 
I, " you have been in the habit of bleeding in such 
cases, and I think it is best to bleed him now." 
"Yes," says he, "I think so; bleed him." I then 
bled him from a large orifice, until he began to faint. 
His pain was removed. I waited half an hour, and 
his pain returned in some degree; corded his arm 
again, and let the blood flow, to approaching faint- 
ness. Again the pain was relieved. Waited another 
half hour ; it did not return much, but it hurt him to 
take a long breath ; applied a mustard plaster to the 
side, gave a large Dover's powder, and ordered physic 



102 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

in six hours, and another powder after it. Saw him 
next day ; he was cured. P. S. 

Case 2. Pleurisy with Typhus Fever, — Mr. E , 

of Dunkley's Grove, had the Pleurisy. When I first 
saw him, he had pain in the left side and under the 
breast bone, much distress in breath, inclined to 
cough, but restrained himself as much as possible, on 
account of the pain it produced. His skin was dry, 
countenance pale, tongue furred with a brown far, 
considerable thirst, delirious at times, his pulse small, 
frequent, about one hundred and forty in a minute, 
with frequent faltering strokes. A kind old lady of 
the neighborhood was present, who was accounted a 
good nurse. She was from Vermont, and had been 
accustomed to see patients bled for Pleurisy. What 
physicians didn't know, she could tell them. " Well, 
doctor," says she, " I suppose he must be bled." "By 
no means," says I ; " I would not dare to bleed a 
patient with such a pulse." " Why," says she, " Dr. 

N bled Mr. W the first thing, and he was 

just like this man. He had the Pleurisy ; his tongue 
was brown, or nearly black ; and the doctor said his 
pulse was a hundred and forty in a minute ; I know 
it was very small, I could hardly feel it." " Well," 
says I, " did the bleeding help him ?" " Yes," says 
she, " I thought it did ; he breathed easier after it." 
a Did he get well ?" " He died the next day." 

My patient had remissions for six or eight hours 
every forenoon. I prescribed as follows : A Dover's 



PLEUEISY WITH TYPHOID FEVER. 103 

powder, with a grain and a half of quinine in each 
powder, once in four hours, in the afternoon and 
night, and quinine bitters, once in two hours, in the 
forenoon ; a mustard plaster on the side and over the 
breast-bone ; the quinine bitters to be given between 
the powders, if the thirst is not great, if it is, give an 
effervescing draft ; give some warm diaphoretic drink 
immediately after the powder ; move the bowels once 
in two days, give rhubarb and magnesia in four hours 
after, assist the operation with an injection. 

The patient was better the next day. The medi- 
cine was stopped through the night, but continued 
through the day. He was able to sit up in three 
days ; in a week he was around ; soon was well. The 
good old dame thought I was a numskull, because I 
refused to bleed him ; she would not stay, and a nurse 
was obtained that did not know more than the physi- 
cian, and the directions were well followed. P. S. 

Case 3. Pleurisy with Typhoid Fever. — Mrs. 

O , a lady considerably advanced in years, over 

sixty, was taken with violent pain in her left side, 
breathing was distressing, some cough, rather dry; 
some fever, with a white fur upon the tongue ; pulse 
nearly natural, sometimes intermitting, and, now and 
then, a tense stroke. Ordered a Dover's powder, 
with some sweating tea after it, to be repeated in four 
hours, if a gentle perspiration was not produced by 
the first powder ; two bilious pills, six hours after the 
powder, wait four hours, and give one bilious pill,, 



104 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

once in three hours, until an operation is produced ; 
then give another Dover's powder ; a mustard plaster 
over the pain. The next day she was cured. 

This form of Pleurisy is common in this region, 
and is cured by the above treatment. Sometimes it 
continues a little longer. The mustard plaster should 
be continued while the pain lasts ; the powders once 
in six hours, and a mild laxative every other day. 

Case 4. Bilious Pleurisy. — J. A. B . Violent 

pain in the left side ; taken with chills, pain in the 
bones, considerable fever; bilious countenance. 
Ordered a mustard plaster over the pain, a Dover's 
powder, with diaphoretic drink, followed, in six 
hours, with bilious pills. After the physic, take a 
powder, once in six hours, if there be pain or fever. 
Second day, much relieved ; the powder produced a 
moisture on the surface, and the physic operated 
favorably. Third day, fever and pain return ; pain 
not as severe as the first day. Give a powder, once 
in six hours, while the fever lasts ; as soon as the skin 
begins to be moist, begin with the quinine bitters, 
and take a table-spoonful, once in three hours, while 
there is not much fever, and the powders when the 
fever is on ; apply the mustard when there is much 
pain ; take the Welch medicamentum, or the correc- 
tive pills, enough to move the bowels every other 
day. The patient was well in Hve days. Such cases 
&re common in this region, and in all places where 
malarious diseases prevail. P. S. 



SEQUEL OF PLEUEISY. 105 



SEQUEL OF PLEUEISY. 

Case of JEmpyema. — In the month of August, 

18 26 ? when I was a young physician, Nelson B , 

a young man, about twenty, was brought to me by a 
mutual friend, to see what I would say about his case. 
His countenance was pale, with a haggard look of 
despondency ; his breath was short, and very much 
obstructed, and, with a weak and trembling voice, he 
wished my opinion of his case. His heart was beat- 
ing on the right side ; his body was inclined over to 
the right ; his shoulder, on the left side, considerably 
raised ; the ribs pushed out as much as two inches, 
and the sternum elevated. He was much emaciated ; 
had an incessant, dry cough, and could not lie down at 
all. On inquiry, I found he had the Pleurisy the winter 
before; was very sick, and had been inefficiently 
treated. His case was bad, almost desperate. I sat 
soberly reflecting what to say to him, when he said to 
me : " Don't be afraid to tell what you think of me ; 
it will not frighten me." " Well," says I, " I think 
there is as much as three pints of matter in the cavity 
of your body, and you will die unless it is let out, and 
I don't know but you will if it is ; that is your only 
hope ; you must have an incision made between the 
ribs, and let the matter out." My opinion did not 
frighten him, but rather encouraged him; he had 
despaired of recovery. I advised him to go to two 
respectable practitioners, in the village of C , that 



106 THE HOUSE WE LIVE Itf. 

I had confidence in, and not depend solely upon my 
opinion, as I was young. On his way home, he met 
the pretended physician that had attended him in the 
Pleurisy, and told him my opinion ; he condemned it, 
and said it was not so. He then went to the honest 
old physician who had visited him a few times in his 
present condition, and told him my opinion. " Well," 
says he, "I guess he is right ; but I declare I never 
thought of it." He then went to see the men I 
advised him to see ; they said I was right, and the 
operation was the only hope. We met together, and 
made the opening between the fifth and sixth ribs. 
After discharging a four-quart tin-panful, he fainted. 
We put in a tent, and laid him down. He soon 
revived, and, with tears in his eyes, told me I had 
saved his life. The next day, the tent was removed, 
and two quarts more of purulent matter extracted. It 
continued to discharge a pint a day until November, 
then gradually diminished. Two years afterwards, he 
was said to be the smartest man for work in Wayne 
county. P. S. 

Another case of Empyema — Sequel of Pleurisy. — 

Phoebe W , a beautiful and interesting daughter 

of a Quaker family, in Oneida county, New York, 
was near eighteen, of a constitution rather slender, 
and of a sanguine, nervous temperament. She labored 
in a cotton factory at York Mills, and was there taken 
with Pleurisy in the right side. After the violence 
of the symptoms had abated, she was left with a har- 



SEQUEL OF PLEURISY. 107 

rassing cough, and being unable to work in the fac- 
tory, she was brought home, and I was sent for. Her 
cough was dry, and continued night and day. I pre- 
scribed demulcents and anodynes. On the next visit, 
the remedies for cough had produced little, if any, 
effect. She had hectic fever and night sweats. She 
complained of a dull pain and sense of weight and 
oppression in the right side, in the region of the 
upper lobe of the right lung, which, she said, was the 
place where she had violent pain when she had the 
Pleurisy. Upon applying percussion, a dull, heavy 
sound was produced ; by auscultation, it was discovered 
that air entered the lung, though not quite with nor- 
mal freedom, yet enough to decide against the idea 
of hepatization. I began to suspect a collection of 
matter. On examining the side externally, I found it 
was evidently swelled ; the ribs were pushed out, and 
in one place they seemed further apart than usual, 
and there was a place very tender to the touch, be- 
tween them. Fully satisfied, now, of a collection of 
matter, I proposed to make an incision ; but the idea 
was horrible to the patient and to her mother. They 
being so much frightened and alarmed at the thought, 
I was nonplussed, and began to cast about in my mind 
what might be done. At length, I thought I would 
persuade them to permit me to insert a seton, and 
would plunge the needle so deep that it would pro- 
duce the desired effect. They readily consented to the 
seton. I plunged it in deep, but it did not go through. 



108 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

The next day, I visited the patient ; the mother said 
she guessed the seton was working well, for it ran a 
quart last night. She went back to the factory in a 
fortnight. We shall hear of Phoebe again. P. S. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS AND PLEURISY. 

I will only add a few words to the treatment of 
these diseases which has been so admirably given by 
my father; and those words only to impress upon 
your minds the soundness of his theory, and the cer- 
tainty of success if his directions are followed. Many 
persons are killed outright by bleeding, and other 
reducing treatment, in these complaints. General 
Harrison, President of the United States, was un- 
doubtedly killed by bleeding ; he was from what was 
then the West, and lived in a marshy district; he 
was bled when he should have been stimulated, and 
lost his life in consequence. 

About eighteen years ago, I was called to see a man 
over sixty years old, who was suffering from Bilious 
Pleurisy. When I arrived, he told me all he wanted 
was that I should bleed him ; he had had many such 
attacks, and bleeding was a sure cure. I tried to per- 
suade him that it would not answer now ; that his 
disease was a "Misplaced Intermittent;" that the 
inflammation was apparent, and not real. He would 
not believe me. I refused to bleed him. He paid 

me for my trip, and sent for Dr. M , who came 

and bled him as he requested ; the next morning, he 



INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 109 

was a corpse. He was visiting at the house of a 
friend ; that family ever after employed me. as long 
as I continued to practice. 

I have been in the habit of making my Dover's 
powders strong' enough, of opium or morphine, to 
relieve the pain, and keep up this effect until the dis- 
ease is removed. I might give scores of interesting 
cases, but they would only corroborate what has been 
said. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 

Inflammation of the Bowels is attended with fever, 
great pain and soreness of the bowels, much increased 
on pressure ; swelling of the abdomen generally super- 
venes. Writers divide this disease into two species : 
enteritis, which is inflammation of the coats of the 
intestines, and peritonitis, which is inflammation of 
the membrane that lines the cavity of the abdomen ; 
but as the treatment and most of the prominent 
symptoms are similar, we will treat them under one 
common head. 

Inflammation of the Bowels is frequently a rapid 
and a dangerous disease. The treatment should be 
prompt and vigorous. In addition to the remedies 
prescribed for general inflammation, according to the 
different variety — inflammatory, typhoid or typhus 
— which ever may exist, appropriate topical applica- 
tions are to be used. Bleeding, cupping, blistering, 
irritation with mustard plaster, with antimonial oint- 



110 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ment, and with stimulating liniment; fomentations, 
with bitter and stimulating herbs, with tobacco added 
to them, and emollient injections with tobacco also ; 
all of which are more clearly explained in the follow- 
ing cases. 

Case 1. Inflammation of the Bowels, — Mrs. S. 

J , aged about twenty-six, of a constitution rather 

feeble, nervous and irritable. About a week after 
confinement with her first child, she was taken with 
chills and pain, she said, all over. The next day, I 
was sent for, and found her with great pain in her 
bowels, much swelled and very sore. She lay on her 
back, with her feet drawn up ; pulse a hundred and 
thirty, with a quick stroke ; considerable fever and 
thirst; the stomach irritable, and she vomited fre- 
quently, which gave her much pain. I proposed to 
cup her, and she reluctantly consented. She felt so 
much relief from the first application of the cups, that 
she proposed the second, and then again the third, 
and so on until they had been applied in six places. 
The disease was subdued. After the cupping, a 
Dover's powder, in six hours, physic (magnesia and 
Epsom salts), then another powder. She was conva- 
lescent the next day. P. S. 

Case 2. Inflammation of the Bowels. — Mrs. H. 
L , of an excitable and not very strong constitu- 
tion, and of costive habits, while in her monthly con- 
dition, took a sudden cold, and feeling violent pain in 
her bowels, took, of her own accord, two table-spoon- 



INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. Ill 

fills of castor oil. Half an hour afterwards, she 
vomited very hard ; the pain in her bowels increased, 
and they were much swelled and very sore. I was 
then sent for; she was in great pain; her bowels 
much swelled, very hard and very sore ; her pulse a 
hundred and forty in a minute, small, tight and 
irregular ; inclined to vomit. Gave her forty drops 
of laudanum, with twenty grains of calomel, to be fol-' 
lowed, in one hour, with an ounce of castor oil. The 
bowels were fomented with an infusion of wormwood 
and hops. The physic was retained on the stomach. 
Three hours after the oil had been taken, an injection 
was administered, of an infusion of boneset, milk and 
molasses. The injection came away, in half an hour, 
but produced no relief. About the quantity of a pipe- 
ful of tobacco was added to the fomentation on the 
bowels, and about the same quantity to an injection. 
This was administered, and retained about fifteen 
minutes. Some relaxation seemed to be indicated by 
the pulse, which was less frequent and not quite so 
tight. There was also a little nausea. An effer- 
vescing draft was given. Thirty minutes after, the 
fomentation, with the tobacco included, was renewed, 
and another full injection like the last administered. 
Within an hour after this, she grew deadly pale, com- 
plained of sickness at the stomach, threw herself about 
and over on her side, then vomited with all her 
might; and soon her bowels moved powerfully. 
Gave her a little brandy-sling ; removed the tobacco 



112 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IT*. 

fomentation from the bowels ; washed her with spirits 
and water, and gave her a cup of tea, with a little 
toast. Called to see her the next day; she was 
cured. P. S. 

Case 3. Inflammation of the Bowels {Peritonitis?) 

— Mrs. E. S had a painful swelling in the right 

side of her bowels, with considerable fever; bowels 
constipated. Applied a mustard plaster, and gave 
Epsom salts and magnesia for physic. Second day : 
The physic had operated scantily ; the inflammation is 
spreading over the bowels; the bowels are much 
bloated. Rubbed antimonial ointment over the 
bowels, and fomentations of smart- weed. Third day : 
Tongue much coated with a brown fur; pulse a 
hundred and thirty in a minute; countenance pale 
and sunken. Spirits and tobacco added to the 
fomentations ; these to be renewed once in six hours, 
and the antimonial ointment to be rubbed in every 
time they are renewed. Give corrective pills at night. 
Fever is remittent. Give a Dover's powder once in 
four hours when the fever is high ; and once in four 
hours, with a grain of quinine, when the fever is low. 
Give an effervescing draft as often as she chooses. 
Fourth day : The clergyman has been in, and informed 
her that her friends think she will die, and exhorts 
her to be prepared. She appears very sick, her bowels 
are very much bloated; but she resents the kind 
warning of her spiritual adviser, and thinks it 
untimely. The ointment begins to produce eruptions 



INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 113 

on the bowels. Continue the applications on the 
bowels ; give an injection of boneset tea, with tobacco, 
molasses and milk, once in four hours. My wife and 
myself consented to stay with them through the night. 
Fifth day (morning) : The injections have moved the 
bowels pretty freely through the night ; the eruptions 
have increased on the bowels ; the bloating has sub 
sided some, and the bowels are less tense and hard ; 
her pulse is a hundred and twenty in a minute, and 
softer; the remissions are more distinct; and her 
countenance improves. Give quinine bitters, once in 
in three hours, during remissions ; fever powder, once 
in six hours, when fever is high. She recovered 
gradually. P. S. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH (GASTRITIS). 

Symptoms. — Acute Inflammation of the Stomach 
commences often with violent vomiting and purging, 
and with a burning or lancinating pain. The pain 
and vomiting is generally increased by taking warm, 
drinks. The desire for cool drinks, and aversion to- 
warm drinks, is usually very strong. It is generally 
attended with great depression of spirits and prostra- 
tion of strength. The pulse is contracted, quick and 
tense, and finally becomes so small as hardly to be 
felt. It may be distinguished from cramp, spasm or 
colic by the pain or soreness, on pressure, which in 
colic gives relief. It is caused by irritating substan- 
ces taken into the stomach; cold water, taken too 
8 



114 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

hastily, when heated and in a state of perspiration, or 
other general causes of inflammation. All the active 
agencies to remove inflammatory diseases can not be 
so vigorously employed when its seat is in the 
stomach ; and as we can not do much with cathartics, 
emetics, or any thing which tends to irritate the 
stomach, therefore we must the more assiduously and 
thoroughly apply appropriate external means. 

Bleed, if necessary — that is, if the patient be 
strong and the circulation active ; external irritation 
for counter-action is very important ; cupping, blister- 
ing, or applying a mustard plaster a few hours, and 
then rub in the antimonial ointment, to produce erup- 
tions. Stimulate the skin to action, by friction and 
stimulating applications. Keep the feet warm, and 
stimulated with mustard, or some other rubefacient. 
Nothing irritating should be taken into the stomach. 
Mild mucilaginous drinks, such as infusion of elm 
bark, mucilage of gum arabic, mallows, comfrey, blue 
violet root, etc. The diet should be of the mildest 
kind — barley water, thin gruel, and such like — and 
these should not be very warm, nor indeed, as I think, 
very cold. I deprecate the practice of some who, in 
such cases, give ice ; for, although it seems grateful to 
the patient when first swallowed, a reaction is soon 
produced, and the heat, pain and suffering of the 
patient is increased. 

Case of Inflammation of Stomach. — A sister of 
mine, about ten years ago, had a severe attack of 



ACUTE RHEUMATISM. 115 

inflammation of the stomach. After being treated 
until they thought she would die, they sent for me, 
sixteen miles. I found her very low and feeble; 
pulse a hundred and fifty-five; countenance pale, 
great thirst, and vomited every thing taken into her 
stomach. I consulted with the doctor in attendance, 
learned what had been done, and prescribed as fol- 
lows : Dissolve a drachm of morphine in three pints 
of water, and add a pint of spirits ; wet several thick- 
nesses of cloth in this, and put over her stomach and 
bowels; give an injection to move the bowels; to 
relieve her thirst, let her hold ice in her mouth until 
it dissolves, but not swallow it ; give her injections of 
beef tea, chicken tea, water gruel, etc., etc. ; bathe her 
in spirits and beef brine. In two days she could take 
a little beef tea upon the stomach ; in five days she 
could eat beef-steak and toast, and soon was com- 
pletely recovered. 

ESTLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. 

A Case of Misplaced Intermittent. — S. D , a 

man of middle age, industrious, and of good repute, 
of bilious temperament, a tanner, currier and shoe- 
maker, was residing in the vicinity of a neighborhood 
lately made subject to Ague and Bilious Fever, on 
account of flooding a large tract of low land, by build- 
ing a mill-dam across a stream in that place. He was 
taken with Bilious Fever about the middle of August, 
which, by thorough evacuations, appeared to be 



116 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

removed, and lie was able to attend to his business. 
About three weeks after this, he was taken with 
chills, which were immediately followed by severe 
pain in the pelvis, strangury, and sometimes complete 
stoppage in the water. These symptoms lasted six 
or eight hours. During this time of distress, he took 
a Dover's powder, and the ease that followed, after a 
while, was attributed to that ; but, as the pain came 
on regularly once in twenty-four hours, and subsided 
with some moisture on the surface, I began to appre- 
hend the nature of the case. The patient was deter- 
mined to believe that he had a stone in the bladder, 
and he was so firmly persuaded of this, that he pro- 
posed to send eighteen miles, to Utica, for Dr. B — -, 
a celebrated surgeon. He came, and after hearing 
an account of his symptoms, thought the patient 
might be right in his opinion. He examined him 
thoroughly with a sound, concluded there was no 
stone in his bladder ; took fourteen dollars for a fee, 
which he considered very moderate, and made so, on 
account of the futile visit. 

I then resumed the charge of him ; gave him qui- 
nine bitters, once in three hours, when the pain was 
off, and a Dover's powder, once in six hours, when 
the pain was on. His disease was entirely removed 
in iive days. P. S. 

Inflammation of the Bladder should be treated the 
same as Inflammation in the Bowels, only the counter- 
irritation should be over the bladder, and mucilaginous 



ACUTE RHEUMATISM. 117 

drinks should be administered. Cupping over the 
bladder, fomentations, etc., etc. ; give, also, fall doses 
of laudanum, enough to quiet the pain ; if the water 
is not discharged, and the bladder is distended, the 
catheter should be introduced, and the water drawn 
off. 

ACUTE RHEUMATISM. 

Acute Rheumatism generally commences like other 
fevers; chilliness, alternating with flushes of heat, 
with a general feeling of weakness, weariness, loss of 
appetite, and low spirits. Then, frequently, a general 
soreness and aching of the body attend these first 
symptoms. Generally, the symptoms of fever exist, 
before the local pain and inflammation of the joints 
take place ; but, frequently, more or less pain and 
inflammation, in one or more of the joints, is felt from 
the commencement of the attack. The parts affected 
with rheumatic inflammation are swelled, red, very 
painful and sore to the touch. 

In the treatment of Inflammatory Rheumatism, the 
same general principles should be pursued as in fevers 
of other kinds, according to the variety which pre- 
vails, with the addition of proper local and external 
applications. These should never be of a repellant 
nature, as there is great danger of driving the disease 
to some vital part. The disease is generally more or 
less paroxysmal, and the fever of the typhoid variety, 
with bilious derangement. It is supposed by many 



118 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

to be of malarious origin ; and may be considered as 
proceeding from the joint causes of marsh effluvia and 
suppressed perspiration, by damp or sudden changes 
of weather. 

When called to see a patient laboring under great 
pain in one or more of the joints or limbs, and 
attended with considerable fever, I give, first, a good 
large Dover's powder, with some warm sweating tea; 
if the pain is not materially relieved, and the skin a 
little moist, within three hours I give another powder. 
After the pain has been lulled, and the skin a little 
moist for five or six hours, and at the same time some 
warm fomentation with bitter herbs, such as worm- 
wood, mayweed, smartweed or hops, or a mustard 
poultice applied to the affected parts, give thorough 
physic. After the operation of the physic, give qui- 
nine bitters, once in three hours, when the fever is 
low, and the Dover's powder, once in six hours, when 
there is much pain or fever. Give mild physic every 
other day. P. S. 

A Violent Case of Acute Rheumatism. — Phoebe 

W , the pretty Quakeress, whose case of Empyema 

we have mentioned, had returned to the factory but a 
few months, before she returned home with Inflam- 
matory Rheumatism. Friend W , Phoebe's father, 

lived in a neighborhood which was called " Quaker 
Settlement." In that settlement there was old Friend 
P , a respectable, good old Quaker. Their fami- 
lies were very friendly and intimate, and there had 



INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. 119 



been intermarriages between them. Friend P- 



purchased a patent right (with pamphlet) to practice 
the Thompsonian course ; and being fully persuaded 
that " Heat is life, and cold is death," he pronounced 
the whole medical faculty a murderous crew. He 
practiced a while on the credulous part of the com- 
munity, until Judge H wrote him a line, saying 

he had killed thirty, to his knowledge, and he must 
now stop, or he would prosecute him. This, therefore, 
put a stop to the old man's practice, and it conse- 
quently devolved upon his son Job. The old man, 
however, continued the practice on himself, until he 
had ruined his stomach with his No. 6, and died in 

eighteen months. Friend W , willing to cherish 

a friendly feeling between the families, and having 
imbibed the opinion that the sweating part of the 
Thompsonian practice was appropriate for rheuma- 
tism, when Phoebe was brought home, sent for Job. 
He continued his operations on the poor girl about a 
week, when I was sent for. I found him there. He 
had become discouraged, and had consented to have 
me sent for. The patient looked up to me with wish- 
ful eyes and a distressed countenance. She could not 
bear to be touched in any part of her body. Even 
her ears were very much inflamed; her feet and 
hands were in great pain. The whole system was 
completely possessed and saturated with Rheumatic 
Inflammation, which had been pushed to the extreme 
with Job's No. 6. I carefully put my finger on her 



120 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

wrist, and ascertained her pulse to be corded, hard, 
quick, and a hundred and forty. She had not slept 
an hour for three nights. Although I do not often 
bleed in rheumatism, yet I bled her about three gills. 
The blood was the most inflamed I ever saw ; the 
buff, or size, that rose to the top on cooling, was 
three-fourths of an inch in thickness. I then gave 
her a large Dover's powder, and some warm sweating 
tea after it; and wrapped her aching limbs in wet 
cloths, wrung out of a warm infusion of hops and 
poppy heads, and sat down to wait the effect and to 
converse with Job. In half an hour she was asleeo. 
Job marveled greatly, and wished to know what 
that powder was composed of. I told him we had no 
secret remedies, and that I would tell him willingly. 
There happened to be a bottle of his No. 6 on the 
table by which we sat. " What do you call this V 
says I. " No. 6," says he. " And how is it made," I 
inquired. " Oh, we don't tell that," says he. " Oh 
ho I" I said, being well satisfied with his answer. I 
did not need to be told that it was composed of cay- 
enne, gum, myrrh and brandy. I then informed him 
that I was feeling quite unwell that day, and, throw- 
ing out my arm to him, told him I wished he would 
;see if he could tell what ailed me. After pulsing me 
& long time, he came to the conclusion that I had a 
violent pain in the stomach. " How is it," says I, 
" that you can so accurately tell by the pulse how a 
person feels, as you never studied medicine V " Oh, 



INFLAMMATORY EHEUMATISM. 121 

I suppose," says he, " it is because I was born under 
that particular planet." (By the by, I had no pain 
in the stomach. I had been up all night before, felt 
rather dull, and while waiting to see the effect of 
Phoebe's treatment, needed something to please my- 
self, and please the Thompsonian bystanders.) I 
afterwards frequently heard of their telling how accu- 
rately Job told the doctor how he felt. 

I waited two or three hours ; Phoebe slept sweetly, 
and before I left there was a general moisture on the 
surface. I directed physic with magnesia and salts, in 
six hours; after the operation of the physic, give a 
Dover's powder, with the warm tea after it, once in 
six hours, if there is much pain or fever ; and a small 
Dover's powder, with a grain of quinine, once in three 
hours, when there is not much fever. Continue the 
external applications, and, besides, wash her all over, 
every day, with pearlash and water. 

After two days I visited her again; found her 
much improved. Continue treatment. In two days, 
another visit. Gaining rapidly; quinine bitters; 
laxative every other night; wash with mustard, in 
spirits and water. Cascarilla bitters after two days 
more ; exercise by riding or swinging. Recovery was 
rapid. P. S. 

Another Case of Inflammatory Hheumatism, with 
a Sequel, — There was in Oneida county, New York, 

an old man called Dr. C . He had been a saloon 

or groggery keeper in Troy, I believe, and had, as is 



122 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

often the case, become intemperate, lost his property, 
and became involved in debt, and was obliged to 
steal away between two days, and found a stopping 
place in one of the most out-of-the-way places in the 
county. He was a dirty, ugly-looking old fellow, but 
rather shrewd when half sober, and well calculated to 
take with the great class of gullibles. 

Deborah W , a girl about eighteen years old, 

was taken with Inflammatory Rheumatism in the 
ankles and knees, which were much swelled and 
extremely painful. They sent off eight miles for Dr. 

C , but not finding him at home, left word for 

him to come as soon as possible. They being in great 
fear, and the doctor not coming, I was sent for, and 
had just entered the house when they saw their doctor 
coming. Understanding what their preference was, 
I slipped back, and told them to set him to work ; 
and, as there were a number of the neighbors present 
friendly to me and disgusted with the idea of employ- 
ing the dissipated old quack, in an adjoining room, I 
went in, and thought I would wait a little and see 
how the old fellow operated. He proceeded, forth- 
with, to boil half a potful of potatoes, set them beside 
the bed, with bedclothes over potatoes and patient, so 
adjusted that the steam would envelop her. He had 
not proceeded much over half an hour, before he came 
screaming into my room, " Come here, doctor, for 
God's sake ; I believe the girl is dying." I went in, 
and found her in a frightful condition ; her heart was 



IOTLAMMATOKY EHETJMATISM. 123 

bounding and fluttering terribly ; her breathing, by 
snatches and catches, and almost interrupted; her 
countenance like death. " Do help her, doctor, if you 
can," they all said. I stopped the steam, put her feet 
and legs into warm water, and had them rubbed 
stoutly, washed her head and chest with spirits and 
water, then put a handful of ether on the chest. She 
began to breathe better in twenty minutes. I then 
put strong mustard plasters on her feet and legs, and 
gave her a Dover's powder, with some warm sage tea. 
In one hour she was quite comfortable. 

The old quack was very much surprised, and 
apparently gratified, with this sudden and complete 
relief of the patient. He took me outside, to talk 
with me, and said, " You must, of course, take charge 
of the patient." He acknowledged he was very igno- 
rant, and knew nothing about medicine or the heal- 
ing art; he made his syrup, and people were fools 
enough to buy it, and give two dollars a quart for it ; 
it was all his living ; he hoped I would not expose 
him. He was really a shrewd old fellow. I was not 
disposed to expose him, or to say much about him. 

I took charge of the patient ; gave her corrective 
pills every other night, diaphoretic powders, once in 
six hours, when there was pain or fever ; quinine bit- 
ters, once in three hours, when there was not much 
pain or fever ; and directed her to be washed with 
warm salt and water, or saleratus, and mustard plaster 
or horse-radish leaves to be placed over the affected 



124 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

parts. She improved rapidly. In three or four days, 
the corrective pills were exchanged for sulphur and 
gum guaiacuni, and, in about ten days, the irritating 
applications were exchanged for the common liniment, 
thoroughly rubbed in. After about four weeks, the 
fever and soreness were entirely removed. I prescribed 
cascarilla bitters, laxative enough to keep the bowels 
open, and exercise as much as could be borne without 
fatigue ; first by friction, then let her sit in the rock- 
ing chair, and be rocked a few minutes, increasing a 
little every time ; and soon, when it was fair weather, 
let her be placed in a carriage, and drawn across the 
door yard a few time's. Directed this to be increased 
every day, and soon she would be able to ride half a 
mile, and increase the distance every day. In the 
mean time, ordered the diet to be nourishing. The 
patient and her mother thought she was too weak to 
follow my directions. At length, her uncle, a homoso- 
pathist, came to visit them ; gave her a millionth part 
of a drop of laudanum, once a day, put my directions 
of exercise and diet in force, and she was well. 

P. S. 
In Inflammatory Rheumatism, I give full doses of 
opium and morphine, in addition to the Dover's 
powder, if necessary, to relieve the patient and keep 
him quiet, until the quinine cures the disease ; stimu- 
late with spirits, if the patient seems to be sinking, 
or feels faint, as often and as much as necessary. 



EKYSIPELAS. 125 



ERYSIPELAS. 



Erysipelas is an inflammation of the skin, generally 
attended with some fever ; characterized by redness, 
burning heat and some swelling. It takes place in a 
system of deranged health, and does not tend to sup- 
puration, like phlegmonous inflammation. Phleg- 
monous inflammation is called healthy inflammation ; 
it exists in a system in a comparatively healthy con- 
dition. It tends to suppuration, that is, to the forma- 
tion of matter which is called pus ; and is the healthy 
effort of nature to throw off or to subdue some evil. 
Erysipelas inflammation is called unhealthy inflam- 
mation, and exists in this state because the general 
health is deranged. Let a person with healthy inflam- 
mation be placed in a crowded and filthy room of 
impure air, and the inflammation becomes unhealthy, 
or erysipelatous. 

Treatment. — In the treatment of Erysipelas, par- 
ticular attention must be given to regulate the general 
health. The secretions are disturbed ; the liver does 
not act rightly ; there probably is loss of appetite, 
some degree of nausea, more or less headache, lassi- 
tude, general depression, and furred tongue, bad taste 
in the mouth, and a feeling of weight or dull pain at 
the pit of the stomach. Tonics and tonic laxatives, 
as recommended in the treatment of disease of the 
general health, is my leading plan of treatment. For 
a laxative, especially where an alterative is indicated, 



126 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

I generally give an alterative powder every other 
night; otherwise, I give corrective pill, rhubarb, 
syrup, or Welsh medicamentum. For a tonic, I give 
cascarilla bitters; or, where a malarious influence 
affects the patient, and generally in this climate, I 
begin with the quinine bitters, once in three hours, 
through the day, for three or four days, or until an 
effect is produced; then give the cascarilla bitters, 
three times a day, and, if the case requires, continue 
the quinine two or three times a day for a little 
longer. No application is to be applied externally, 
except milk and water, or buckwheat flour, to alleviate 
the irritation. A blister may be drawn on the well 
skin forward of the disease, to prevent its spreading. 

P. S. 

EPIDEMIC ERYSIPELAS. 

In the years 1841-2, a disease prevailed in Oneida 
county, New York, which was very fatal, and which 
came to be called Epidemic Erysipelas. The ery- 
sipelas did not show itself in every case. Many were 
taken with a violent pain in some part of the body 
— in the head, stomach or bowels, and sometimes in 
the arm or leg, or in a finger or toe. Mortification 
would take place, or had already taken place, and the 
patient died within twenty-four or forty-eight hours. 
At length the disease manifested itself generally in 
its regular form. They were taken, after a few chills, 
some languor and wandering pains, with erysipelas 



EKYSIPELAS. 127 

inflammation in the face and head, attended with con- 
siderable fever, brown fur on the tongue, with ten- 
dency to coma or delirium. I was called to see a 
young man in this condition, about eight miles from 
my residence. It was the first regular case that I had 
seen. His face and head were enormously swelled ; 
his tongue was swelled and nearly palsied; he had 
not power or sense enough to swallow ; his pulse was 
full, but not very frequent. My first impression was 
to bleed him ; but I hesitated a little, sat down by 
him to feel his pulse again. I found his pulse was 
very compressible, and although pretty full, there was 
not much force in it. My hesitancy was observed, 
and it was proposed to call in the physician of the 
town, who, it was said, had had some experience in 
such cases. He came, and immediately observing the 
great inflammation, advised him to be bled. I men- 
tioned to him the compressibility of the pulse, and 
observed that I dare not bleed him, and proposed to 
try a stimulating dose. After again feeling his pulse, 
he assented. I gave him a table-spoonful of brandy, 
with a grain of quinine, in a little sweetened water. 
It improved his pulse and his symptoms every way. 
Ordered quinine bitters, once in two hours ; a Dover's 
powder at bedtime, and corrective pills every other 
night. He was cured. I treated all my patients 
successfully in the same manner. Others bled; all 
bled died. P. S. 

This disease spread all over Oneida county at the 



128 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

time mentioned by father. A Dr. Edwards, who was 
formerly a student of father's, lived in the north part 
of the county. He had several cases, and lost them 
all. After a while, he was called to a confirmed 
drunkard, who was suffering from the disease. He 
treated him three or four days, the patient constantly 
growing worse, until the doctor gave him up to die. 
The toper concluded that he would die happy in his 
way, and procured a two gallon jug of whisky ; keep- 
ing this under the edge of the bed, he drank freely, 
laying the doctor's medicine away in the drawer. In 
the course of two days his symptoms improved, and 
he gradually recovered. When he was well enough, 
so that the doctor thought it unnecessary to visit him 
any more, the patient drew out the drawer and handed 
the doctor's medicine back to him, informing him 
what he had done. That doctor took the hint, and 
lost no more patients after that. 

It is to this day the proper treatment for malignant 
Erysipelas. I do not mean clear whisky, but quinine 
bitters with fever powders and mild laxatives. Iodide 
of potassium, given in doses of from four to six grains, 
once in four to six hours, is a valuable remedy. 

SCIATICA, OE SCIATICA RHEUMATISM. 

Sciatica is a species of chronic rheumatism, affecting 
particularly the sciatic nerve, where it passes over the 
sciatic notch in the hip bone. A deep-seated pain in 
the hip, producing lameness in that side, and fre- 



SCIATIC RHEUMATISM. 129 

quently extending down to the knee and to the ankle ; 
and some times more severe in the course of the nerve 
below the hip than in the hip. These pains seem to 
be, in a considerable degree, paroxysmal ; some part 
of the time very severe, and alternating with ease, or 
a less degree of pain. Wet or damp atmosphere 
increases the severity of the pain ; pressure on the 
sciatic nerve, where it passes out of the notch, pro- 
duces pain, and reveals the nature of the case. It is 
to be treated by counter-irritation, with repeated blis- 
ters over the sciatic nerve, or by cupping and tartar- 
ked ointment, with those internal remedies proper in 
chronic rheumatism: gum guaiac. and sulphur, equal 
parts, a tea-spoonful of the mixture, at bedtime ; tinc- 
ture of poke berries (Phitolacca Decandra), an ounce 
to a pint of brandy, a tea-spoonful three times a day ; 
or tincture of colchicum seeds, from twenty to thirty 
drops, three times a day. 

Frequently, Sciatica is a violent disease, and pros- 
trates the patient with pain and fever, which comes 
on periodically, with remissions, after the manner of 
malarious diseases. Such cases, in addition to the 
above mentioned treatment, should have the quinine 
bitters, once in three hours during the remissions, 
and the diaphoretic powder, once in six hours, during 
the exacerbation. Lumbago is chronic rheumatism, 
affecting primarily or principally the muscles of the 
loins over the small of the back, and is to be treated 
the same as Sciatica. 
9 



130 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Case of Sciatica, — S. W , of Oneida county, 

New York, an industrious man of middle age, a wheel- 
wright, and of rather a feeble and excitable constitu- 
tion, met me in the street, near his house, and com- 
plained of pain and lameness in his left hip. He said 
it was some times quite troublesome, and in the night 
pained him so that he could not sleep ; yet he gene- 
rally kept about his work, and attended to his work- 
men. I directed him to try some of the common lini- 
ment, and to rub it in thoroughly, over the affected 
part. Four or five weeks after, I was sent for, to go 

and see Mr. W . He lived five or six miles from 

me. The message was very urgent that I should 
come as soon as possible. I found him in great alarm 
and very much agitated. " I want you," says he, " to 
examine my back thoroughly, and tell me what ails 
me." " How is your lameness ?" says I. " Oh, about 
the same," says he ; " never mind that. I want to 
know what ails my back." We stripped him. I 
examined his back thoroughly, from the neck down, 
and found not even any tenderness. I told him that 
nothing ailed his back. He wished to know what it 
was, then. I pressed a little on the sciatic nerve, 
where it passes the notch, and found it very tender. 
I told him he had Sciatic Rheumatism. He inquired 
if I knew it was nothing else ; and I told him I was 
certain. He then informed me that, after he consulted 
me concerning his lameness, more than a month ago, 
not receiving much benefit from the liniment which I 



SCIATICA. 131 

recommended, and being in Rome, he called on Dr. 

B , who gave him a liniment ; it produced little 

or no effect ; and, when next in Rome, he called on 

Dr. H. P , who gave him a strong liniment, 

which did not avail much. After a while, he met Dr. 

G. P , who took him into a private room, examined 

him closely, or pretended to do so, and gravely pro- 
nounced his disease a case of spinal affection, or dis- 
ease of the spine, and directed him to go home and 
go to bed, and lie there at least six months, and he 
would come next day and make caustic issues, the 
whole length of his back, and keep them up and 
running the whole time, or his disease would certainly 
kill him. He went home very much alarmed, and 
sent for me immediately, as I have stated. I cupped 
him thoroughly, over the sciatic nerve, rubbed in the 
antimonial ointment, to bring out sores and keep them 
up, and gave him the medicines for Sciatica. He con- 
tinued to attend to his business, and was well in a 
fortnight. P. S. 

~No physician has yet been able to tell just what 
Sciatica is. It is called Sciatica, because its seat is 
in the nerve of that name ; but whether it is inflam- 
mation or enlargement, or whether it is really some 
disease of the muscles about the nerve, is not known ; 
we only know that certain remedies will generally 
effect a cure. There are few cases in the West that 
do not need the tonic and anti-periodic or quinine 
course; and it is also of the utmost importance to 



132 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

keep the bowels open and the secretions right. I 
have known several cases that had been treated with 
quinine and laxatives, and the counter-irritation of 
ant. tart, ointment or mustard; the general health was 
improved, but the pain in the hip and lameness still 
existed. These cases were cured by the application 
of an ointment and tincture of iodine. For the tinc- 
ture, one drachm of iodine to one ounce of alcohol, 
For the ointment, one drachm of iodine and one 
drachm of iodide of potassium to one ounce of lard ; 
put the iodine and potassium together, let them dis- 
solve, then mix thoroughly with the lard ; apply the 
ointment at night, rubbing it in thoroughly over the 
part ; in the morning, wash the part clean with soap 
and water, and rub the tincture over the same place. 
Repeat until cured. 

I would not advise this until the quinine had been 
taken several days. 

This ointment and tincture are said to remove 
spavins, splints, and ringbone from horses. I have 
seen it cure several cases of spavin and splint. It is 
applied night and morning. First rub in the tincture, 
let it dry a few minutes, then rub on the ointment; 
the next time, scrape clean with a case knife, and 
apply as before. 

CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 

There is probably no disease to which human flesh 
is heir, that has produced more suffering, particularly 



CHEONIC EHEUMATISM. 133 

in middle-aged and old people, than this. And there 
is probably none that has baffled physicians more: 
many different theories have been advanced, and 
different specifics found, but thus far all have proved 
delusive. 

Many cases have been cured, but what has proved 
successful in one case has failed entirely in another, 
where all the outward circumstances have seemed the 
same. I shall not advance any theory, for I have 
none. A few years ago several of the leading physi- 
cians of Chicago discovered that lactate of soda, given 
in doses of a table-spoonful twice a day, was a " spe- 
cific." I tried it thoroughly, and it was successful in 
some cases, and it is worthy of a trial in every case. 
But, in my experience, iodide of potassium, as a 
remedy, can be relied on oftener than any other one 
thing ; it must be persevered in for weeks, or even 
months, commencing with doses of three grains, three 
times per day, and increasing the dose until six or 
eight grains are taken. The general health must be 
attended to, the bowels kept open freely, by taking, 
every other night (if the bowels have not moved 
freely within the last twenty-four hours), a dose of 
medicamentum, or corrective pills. The appetite must 
be kept up by taking cascarilla bitters, or the altera- 
tive tonic, and expectorant syrup can be used, 
increasing the quantity of iodide of potassium as 
much as necessary. If the patient has lived where 
there was much marsh effluvia, and the tongue is 



134 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

coated with a brown coat, or it the pain is evidently 
periodically more severe, the quinine bitters should 
be used until these symptoms are relieved. Friction 
over the diseased part should not be neglected. 
External applications are seldom of any use, conse- 
quently the thousand and one nostrums that are 
hawked about the country, and sold to a too confid- 
ing public, are, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, 
so many humbugs. I can produce several persons 
that will certify that Sedgwick's liniment is a sure 
cure for rheumatism, they have used it in their own 
cases with success. But they were mild cases, and 
there are a few such cases that, at the commencement, 
may be cured by an external application. If you 
have an attack you may try the liniment, but do not 
throw away your money buying "Wizard Oil," or 
any other rheumatism cure, especially a liniment, or 
external application. When the iodide of potassium 
has been taken about four weeks, it should be 
omitted for a week or ten days, then taken regularly 
again for a month, and so on, until it has been used 
for six months, even if the disease is apparently cured 
sooner than that, the medicine should be continued 
for at least two months after you consider yourself 
cured. This is absolutely necessary to eradicate every 
vestige of the disease from the system, and prevent a 
return. I believe there are few cases that this course, 
persevered in, will not effect a permanent cure, and 
none that will not be greatly benefitted thereby. I 



MUMPS. 135 

have not given the symptoms of this disease, for there 
are few persons who are not conversant with them. 
If a dull, heavy, grinding pain is present about the 
joints, shifting from place to place, without much 
swelling or redness, it is likely that it is Chronic 
Rheumatism, unless you succeed in curing it before it 
has continued long enough to be called chronic. 

MUMPS. 

This is a contagious disease, and is inflammation 
of the gland situated directly under the ear, called 
the u parotid gland." If the patient is healthy, and 
does not take cold during the progress of the disease, 
it needs no particular attention, and there is no dan- 
ger. But the greatest care should be observed not to 
take cold. In males the danger is in translation of 
the disease to one or both testicles, and in females to 
the breast. If the fever is high, it should be treated 
like ordinary Inflammatory Fever. Warm applica- 
tions should be applied to the breast or testicle when 
either are inflamed. Take any bitter herbs, smart- 
weed, may-weed, hops, or any other bitter herb, 
make a strong tea, and put one ounce of laudanum 
to every two quarts of the tea, and using cloths out 
of this, apply them warm, changing as often as 
they cool. The patient should keep the house and 
as quiet as possible. 



136 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

INFLAMMATION OP THE KIDNEYS (NEPHRITIS). 

This disease may be produced by cold and wet 
applied to the system in a state of perspiration, or 
when the body is uncommonly heated; or it may 
arise from strains of the back and loins; blows and 
falls; hard riding; from irritation of gravel in the 
kidney; from the absorption of cantharides into the 
system ; or from over-doses of some acrid substance ; 
or from translation of gout or rheumatism; or from 
misplaced intermittent. When this affection is ex- 
cited by cold, it commences like other diseases from 
this cause, by slight chills and flushes of heat, before 
the pain in the loins takes place. When it takes 
place from any other cause, a deep-seated, acute, and 
pressing pain in the region of the affected kidney. 
The pain is a severe aching, which is not much 
increased by external pressure. Any sudden jar of 
the body increases the pain considerably. The pain 
often darts down the urinary passage to the bladder, 
and in the thigh there is often a sense of numbness. 
Sickness of the stomach and vomiting generally 
occur, and sometimes violent colic pains. The 
bowels are torpid; the urine is small in quantity, 
high colored, and sometimes bloody; and the desire 
±o void is almost constant and vehemently urgent. 
Sometimes the urine is almost or entirely suppressed. 
This is a bad symptom, and can not endure long with- 
out producing fatal effects ; oppression of the brain is 



INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. 137 

apt to ensue. The patient is easiest when he inclines 
to the affected side. The pulse is excited in the fore- 
part of the disease, but in two or three days falls to 
a typhus state. The skin is hot and dry. 

This disease is generally rapid in its course. If not 
subdued within a week, suppuration or the formation 
of matter takes place. The treatment should be 
prompt and energetic. Many physicians recom- 
mend general bleeding ; cupping thoroughly over the 
affected part should not be neglected, followed by 
some other external irritation, mustard plaster, anti- 
monial ointment, etc. Some smart purgative should 
be immediately administered, cream of tartar and 
jalap ; or salts and magnesia, will be a good cathartic 
to begin with, and a free opening of the bowels 
should be kept up daily by cooling laxatives. Dia- 
phoretic medicines, such as tend to the surface and 
produce a softness of the skin, and a little moisture 
of the surface should not be neglected. Dover's 
powders, followed by some warm diaphoretic tea, or 
sage, or catnip. Demulcent drinks, such as slippery 
elm or flax-seed tea, should be freely used; and a 
decoction of uva ursi or of buchu leaves will be very 
proper and beneficial, after the violence of the symp- 
toms is subdued. This will be very important if 
suppuration have taken place, and some permanent 
external irritation should be kept up, such as a seton 
or issues. The warm bath is frequently very benefi- 
cial. And an action of the skin should be kept up 



138 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

by friction and liniments, or stimulating washes. 
The diet should be most mild and unirritating. The 
occurrence of suppuration is indicated by frequent 
chills or shivering ; a dull, heavy throbbing, instead 
of the acute pain in the kidney; an abatement of the 
febrile symptoms; and a feeling of heaviness or 
numbness in the affected part. P. S. 

GOUT. 

I consider Gout and Rheumatism as the same dis- 
ease, and both to be "misplaced intermittent," or 
remittent, and caused by the same malaria that pro- 
duces these diseases. The treatment should be on 
the same principle ; and must be adapted to the 
variety of fever which accompanies it; whether in- 
flammatory, or typhoid, or typhus. For the fever 
observe the same course recommended in the treat- 
ment of bilious, remittent, and intermittent fevers, 
with such local applications as the case may demand. 
The most common variety of fever in Chronic Rheu- 
matism and Gout is the typhoid. In treating Rheu- 
matism or Gout, consider what variety of fever attends 
it. If the fever is of the inflammatory variety, it is 
Acute Rheumatism. First give a cathartic, as directed 
under that variety of fever, followed by Dover's pow- 
der, once in six hours, when the fever is high, and 
quinine bitters, once in three hours, when the fever is 
low. Mustard plaster, or some other external rube- 
facient or irritant. In Gout or Chronic Rheumatism, 



GOUT. 139 

we give frequently an emetic of emetine or ipecac and 
sulphate of zinc, six or eight grains of each dissolved 
in a little sage tea. Keep the bowels open with a 
laxative of rhubarb and magnesia. Give quinine 
bitters three or four times a day; Dover's powder 
when there is pain or fever. The part affected should 
be brushed as thoroughly as the patient will bear, 
and some stimulating liniment thoroughly rubbed in, 
volatile liniment, or aqua ammonia and spirits of 
turpentine. For a laxative use, sometimes, gum 
guaiac. and sulphur, equal parts, a tea-spoonful of the 
mixture in molasses, at bed-time. Pulverize the 
guaiac. P. S. 

Gout has, by authors and the profession generally, 
been considered a hereditary disease, transmitted 
from parent to child. We believe that the children 
of gouty parents would be free from this disease if 
they would change climate. If you will observe 
closely you will find that this disease only prevails 
where intermittent and remittent fevers are common. 



CHAPTER VII. 



DISEASES OF THE LIVEK. 



" Livee Complaint" is a very common name. It is 
frequently the case that physicians call a disease 
" Liver Complaint," " Spinal Affection," or " Heart 
Disease," for the want of a better name, or for the 
reason that they do not know what malady their 
patient is troubled with. A diseased, or even a tor- 
pid liver, is the cause of untold suffering and trouble. 
There is no organ in the body, a diseased condition 
of which causes such gloomy forebodings ; it is the 
parent of u hypo-nervousness," and every imaginary 
ill. Persons who have never suffered from disease of 
this organ, can not know how to sympathize with those 
who are thus afflicted. It is pitiable, indeed, to see a 
strong man become the counterpart of a nervous, hys- 
terical woman ; but this we often see, and when we 
do, we may know that there is something wrong 
about the liver. It is situated in the right side, and 
occupies, with its lobes, nearly the whole side, extend- 
ing to the backbone. It is surrounded by a sort of 
sac and ligaments, that hold it suspended in its place. 
It is subject to inflammation, cancer, abscess, tumors, 
obstructed gall, or gall stones; and last, but not least 



TOEPOR OF THE LIVEE. 141 

in its unpleasant effects, torpor, which includes jaun- 
dice, or a cessation of the performance of a part or all 
of Its functions. Perhaps the most important function 
of the liver, so far as health is concerned, is the secre- 
tion of healthy bile, whose office is to separate the 
nourishment in our food from the excrements or use- 
less parts. 

Torpor, or want of healthy action of the liver, has 
been the cause of more deaths, probably, than any or 
all other diseases of that organ. It is impossible for 
any person to feel well unless the liver performs all 
its functions in a healthy manner. When the liver 
does not act, the discharges from the bowels will be 
of a white or ashy color, and the bowels may either 
be confined, or the patient may have frequent and 
profuse watery discharges. Frequently, this condi- 
tion of the liver is attended with violent and long- 
continued vomiting. I shall never forget a case of 
this sort, which occurred in one of the first years of 
my practice. It was in July, 1844. I had just come 
to my father's, in Bloomingdale, from the place of my 
birth, in Oneida county, New York. Father had 
gone from home, on a visit to his brother, at Little 
Rock, 111., and had left me to attend to his patients, 
but without a horse to ride. The country was then 
new, the roads few and poor, and the streams not 
bridged. All the old settlers will remember 1844, as 
" the rainy season /" the " sloughs" were lakes, and 
the creeks rivers. One evening, about eight o'clock, 



142 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

a stranger made his appearance, and inquired if a 
doctor lived there. I told him there did, but he was 
absent from home, and would not return for a day or 
two. He said he had been informed that there was a 
young doctor of the same name, that could be found 
at the same place, and asked if he was present. I told 
him I was the man. He then said that his name was 
John Allen; that he lived in Elk Grove; that the 
wife of one of his neighbors, Mr. Joseph Converse, 
was very sick, they feared fatally so, and they had 
sent him here for a doctor. I told him that I had 
just come into the country ; did not know as I should 
remain here more than a week or two ; that I had no 
means of traveling, and that I could not go. He 
replied, that I could ride his horse ; he had come ten 
or twelve miles ; the woman was suffering for medical 
aid, and that he would not go home without me ; if 
I would not go then, he would remain until I did. I 
saw that I had to deal with a man who would not be 
put off, and I consented to accompany him. 

He had for a saddle a horse blanket. I mounted, 
and rode about three miles, when we came to a stream, 
then about three feet deep ; he waded, I following on 
horseback. When we reached the opposite bank, 
which was steep, the horse, in attempting to raise it, 
sank his hind feet in the muddy bottom, and fell 
backwards into the water. I succeeded in not falling 
under the horse, but was completely immersed ; my 
saddle-bags filled with water, and medicine soaked. 



TORPOE OF THE LIVEE. 143 

We soon found a place where the horse could get out 
of the stream, and, as I was considerably chilled, I 
concluded to let Mr. Allen ride part of the time. We 
forded one more swollen stream, and arrived at our 
destination, cold, wet, and fatigued, about two o'clock 
A. M. I found twenty or thirty of the neighbors of 
Mr. Converse watching, and all expecting his wife 
would not survive until morning. 

They soon furnished me with part of a change of 
clothing, and I proceeded to give the case a careful 
examination. She had been vomiting, at intervals 
of five to ten minutes, for thirty-six hours, and was 
then so weak that her head could not be raised from 
her pillow without causing her to faint. There was 
an old doctor present, by the name of Wood; I 
inquired of him if he knew what the trouble was, and 
he said " No." I asked him if he knew what to do 
for her, and he replied that he did not ; that he had 
done every thing he knew to allay the vomiting, 
unless it was to give her some hog's gizzard ; said he 
had given chicken's gizzard, without any good effect. 
I concluded it was useless to spend any time consult- 
ing with him, and told him, as he must be very weary, 
if he would retire to rest, I would see what I could 
do for her between then and morning. 

I immediately informed her husband and friends 
that she was in no danger ; that I understood her 
case perfectly, and that she would be better in a few 
hours. They all looked at me and at each other with 



144 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

astonishment and incredulity. I knew they did not 
believe a word I said. I was a green-looking, beard- 
less boy, and their actions and looks put me in pain- 
ful remembrance of it ; but I was confident they would 
soon think differently, at least so far as regarded the 
condition of the patient. I directed every body to 
leave the room, except her husband, and I put one- 
eighth of a grain of sulphate of morphine upon her 
tongue; told her to keep perfectly quiet, and she 
would feel better in a few moments. In ten minutes 
she was in a quiet slumber, and continued so for 
three hours, when I aroused her, and put two grains 
of calomel and another one-eighth of a grain of mor- 
phine on her tongue. She did not vomit after giving 
her the first dose of morphine. 

About sunrise in the morning, Dr. Wood called 
Mr. Converse out, one side of the house, and informed 
him that his wife was in a dying state, and would 
not live until evening. Mr. C. came immediately 
to me, and informed me what the doctor had said ; 
and added, that it was only six months since he 
brought his wife from Vermont, and that he would 
give me his farm if I would save her. I told him I 
did not want his farm, it was too wet to suit me ; but 
he need have no fears about his wife, that she was in 
no danger ; in fact, there was then no disease about 
her, and that she was only debilitated, from her long- 
continued vomiting. I added that, if he had the least 
fear, he would do well to send for Dr. Mills, who 



MY FIEST PATIENT. 145 

resided about ten miles north. He did so. Dr. Mills 
came about noon, and made no new prescription, but 
corroborated my statements in reference to the resulf 
of the case. In the afternoon of that day, I gave a 
dose of rhubarb and magnesia; remained another 
night ; gave her some tonic bitters (cascarilla bitters) 
the next morning ; pronounced her cured, and returned 
home, confident that my reputation as a physician, 
young and green as I looked, was firmly established 
in that neighborhood. 

In the fall of the same year, I was passing Mr. Con- 
verse's house about noon, and, although they had 
threshers, he hailed me, and insisted that I should 
take dinner -with them. I consented. After dinner 
was over, he invited me to go out to the barn-yard 
with him, where he introduced me to a fine herd of 
cattle. After telling me that he had no money, and 
did not know when he should have — that he owed 
me a debt he could never pay — he requested me to 
select a yoke of steers and drive them home. I 
remonstrated, telling him they were worth much more 
than the bill I had against him ; but he insisted that 
I should take them, said that it was none too much, 
that he would be far better satisfied to have me take 
them than to leave them. I selected a nice pair of 
three-year-old steers, drove them home, kept them one 
night, and sold them for thirty-nine dollars in gold. 
This was my first patient in Illinois. My bill, as- 
charged, was nineteen dollars. I suffered some hard- 
10 



146 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ship, some little vexation ; but I triumphed. I felt I 
had earned my money ; I was happy. 

If I were called to a case of the same nature now, 
I would treat it in the same way, except I would not 
give the calomel. Only a few years ago, the whole 
medical profession believed that mercury, in some 
form, was the only remedy that could be depended 
upon to act on the liver ; and, for this purpose, it has 
been given day after day, while the patient grew 
weaker and weaker, and still no bile in the dis- 
charges ; more calomel, blue pill, or mercury in some 
form ; the patient is soon salivated, still the liver does 
not act; the dose is increased in quantity and fre- 
quency ; down — down goes the patient ; death ends 
the scene. 

I have seen plenty of such cases. I thank God 
they were not my patients. The fact was, it was 
debility that produced non-action of the liver, and 
every grain of mercury increased that debility. 
Stimulants and tonics only were needed ; brandy and 
quinine, with mustard plasters over the region of the 
liver, are, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, better 
alteratives — more likely to produce a healthy action 
of the liver, than mercury in any of its forms ; in fact, 
I would never recommend mercury as an alterative, 
except I was satisfied the want of action was caused 
by some inflammatory condition of the liver, or other 
secretory organs. 

The reason why calomel has caused so much misery 



PREJUDICE AGAINST CALOMEL. 147 

in the world, and has been justly charged with being 
the cause of so many premature deaths, is that it has 
been thought to have a specific effect in stimulating 
the liver to act ; but it does this only under peculiar 
conditions. Thousands have not yet learned this; 
consequently it is still given, whenever an alterative 
is needed ; and one of the best medicines in the world 
is brought into disrepute through the ignorance of 
those who administer it, upon the same principle that 
truth is said often " to suffer more from the heat of its 
defenders than from the attacks of its enemies." 

It is often the case that the liver does not act; 
there is no pain or soreness, but the discharges show 
that there is no bile, they are light colored, and the 
patient feels weak and languid, and the countenance 
looks pale and cadaverous, especially after a few 
days; the eyes look yellow; t\e appetite fails; the 
bowels will either be constipated, or there will be 
diarrhoea. Two grains of blue-pill, with a grain of 
opium, might, and often would, start the bile and 
effect a cure ; but if mercury can be avoided, it should 
be, particularly in adults. 

To a child in this condition, I would give, every 
night, at bedtime, a powder in moist sugar, composed 
of calomel one-fourth of a grain, morphine one-sixteenth 
of a grain, rhubarb two grains; and, once in two 
hours during the day, a tea-spoonful of the following 
mixture: quinine fifteen grains, water one ounce, 
nitric acid fifteen grains, loaf sugar one ounce, brandy 



148 THE HOUSE WE LIVE m. 

or pure spirits two ounces, water five ounces; and 
every night, at bedtime, put a mustard plaster over 
the liver. 

For an adult with the same symptoms, I would 
prescribe quinine, prepared as above, a table-spoonful 
once in three hours, iodide of potassium three grains, 
three times per day, just before meals; a mustard 
plaster over the liver every night; bathe the body 
all over, with spirits and water ; and, if the diarrhoea 
is profuse, take from one to two table-spoonfuls of 
paregoric, with half a tea-spoonful of bicarbonate 
of soda, once or twice per day, or more, if necessary, 
to keep the bowels quiet. If the bowels are consti- 
pated, take, every other night, four to six corrective 
pills, or a table-spoonful of rhubarb syrup, or two tea- f 
spoonfuls of medicamentum, enough to open the 
bowels the next day. 

EEDTODA1S"CY OF BILE. 

Bilious Diarrhoea is generally caused by an excessive 
secretion of bile in the liver, or by the secretion of 
unhealthy bile, which, passing into the bowels, pro- 
duces the same effect as a powerful dose of physic, 
and is attended by griping pains in the bowels. 
These discharges should not be suddenly checked; 
paregoric and soda may be given to alleviate pain, 
but mild purgatives should be given every day until 
the discharges from the bowels assume a healthy color. 
Mustard should be used over the liver, and the qui- 



STOPPAGE OF BILE. 149 

nine and iodide of potassium given to promote healthy- 
action, just the same as for torpor and non-secretion 
of bile. If Bilious Diarrhoea should be suddenly- 
checked, it might throw the patient into violent fever, 
or even inflammation of the bowels; on the other 
hand, diarrhoea, with light-colored discharges, or with 
watery, colorless discharges, should be checked imme- 
diately, the quicker the better — it is ever productive 
of harm ; when Cholera is about, it is generally the 
forerunner of that terrible disease. 

GALL STONES, OR STOPPAGE OF BILE. 

It is sometimes the case that stones, or hard sub- 
stances resembling gravel, form in the gall bladder, 
and these undertake to pass through the duct or pas- 
sage from the liver to the duodenum. They are 
often so large as to stop the passage, when they imme- 
diately become an irritating foreign substance, and 
soon cause the most excruciating pain. The proper 
treatment is, to allay the pain and relax the system, 
so that the stone or hardened bile will pass through 
the duct. I have succeeded admirably, by giving 
one-fourth of a grain of morphine, once in an hour, 
until the pain is relieved, and applying over the liver 
hot cloths, dipped in a decoction of bitter herbs, to 
which a quantity of tobacco has been added, sufficient 
to produce its relaxing effects upon the system. After 
the patient has been relieved from pain for three or 
four hours, a brisk cathartic should be taken ; for this 



150 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

purpose, any physic may be used that the patient may 
prefer. The decoction, to be applied hot, may be 
composed of May weed, smart weed, and tansy or 
boneset, each a handful, tobacco one-fourth pound 
boiling water eight quarts ; all kept hot. 

Cancer of the Liver being a surgical disease, and 
one that can not be treated except by a good surgeon, 
I will not treat upon it in this work, except to say 
that, if there were a severe cutting pain, confined to 
one place, but darting from there, and this should 
continue for a long time, and the general health 
should become impaired, and the usual remedies for 
such difficulty should fail, you might conclude that it 
was possible a cancer existed in that organ. All you 
can do is to consult a good surgeon, and follow his 
advice, trusting in Providence. 

ABSCESS OF THE LIVER. 

Abscess of the Liver is not common ; it is the result 
of violent inflammation. It may be known by deep- 
seated, heavy, throbbing pain, attended by extreme 
soreness. They sometimes point outwardly, so that 
they can be opened between the ribs, the contents 
discharged, and the patient's life saved. They have 
been known to break into the biliary duct, and dis- 
charge into the bowels, and thus not prove fatal ; but 
when they break and discharge into the cavity of the 
chest, or abdomen, they produce inflammation, which 
is fatal in its results. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVEE. 151 

It only remains to speak of Inflammation of the 
Liver, under a slight attack of which I am suffering at 
this writing, consequently will be able to give a cor- 
rect description of the symptoms. Like most inflam- 
mations, it is caused by a cold, or suddenly-checked 
perspiration, and is generally preceded by a chill, 
pains, more or less severe, extending to the back, 
stomach, and bowels ; inability to lie upon the right 
side, or to use the right arm without pain ; can not 
take a long breath without pain, and it hurts some 
to take a short one; the urine is high-colored and 
scanty. 

Treatment. — Give six or eight grains of our fever 
powder, once in four hours, and, if this does not relieve 
the pain, give one-fourth of a grain of morphine, half 
way between the fever powder ; put a strong mustard 
poultice over wherever there is pain or soreness, and 
repeat it every few hours. If you would ever give 
calomel, you may give it in this case, putting four 
grains in each of the two first fever powders. After 
the pain is somewhat relieved, give Epsom salts and 
magnesia, mixed in equal parts by measure, a heaping 
table-spoonful, once in half an hour, until it operates ; 
repeat this, every other day, until the pain is gone. 
When the severe pain has ceased, and only soreness 
is left, it will not be necessary to continue the physic, 
but the bowels should be kept open by small doses 
of rhubarb syrup or citrate of magnesia. 

There are thousands of cases in this Western country 



152 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

where disease of the liver lias been called consumption, 
even by physicians. The patients will have cough, t 
emaciation, night sweats, and nearly all the concomi- 
tants of confirmed consumption; but, with proper 
treatment for " Liver Complaint," they recover. This, 
no doubt, accounts for a portion, if not all, of the so- 
called cures of consumption, made by those advertisers 
who profess to cure this disease. 

Palpitation of the Heart is also one of the symp- 
toms of Liver Complaint, and thousands of cases 
have been treated for months and years as disease of 
the heart, without success, and, finally, a few weeks' 
proper treatment for diseased liver, has effected a per- 
manent cure of the supposed disease of the heart. I 
was once deceived in this way myself. An intimate 
Mend of mine, in Bloomingdale, a large, strong man, 
was afilicted with palpitation of the heart, intermit- 
ting pulse, dizziness, frequent faintness at the stomach, 
pain and soreness about the heart, etc., etc. ; but as 
his appetite was good, and his bowels generally regu- 
lar, I concluded his disease was organic disease of the 
heart. One day, as he stood by my side at the desk, 
writing, he said, " Doc, I feel very strange." I looked 
-at him, and he was in the act of falling. I caught 
him, and lowered him into a chair; administered 
stimulants ; helped him to the house, and, after laying 
him on the lounge and giving him more stimulants, 
we had the satisfaction of seeing him recover, so that, 
in an hour, he was able to walk home. This was 



JAUNDICE. 153 

about four years ago, and although he is still troubled 
more or less with these symptoms, I am satisfied the 
disturbance of the heart arises from a torpid liver. 

JAUNDICE. 

Jaundice consists in a disordered state of the liver, 
known by yellowness of the eyes and skin, high- 
colored urine, also thick, and deposits of sediment, and 
light or clay-colored stools. This disease generally 
comes on slowly ; the patient feels weak and feeble, 
spirits low, temper irritable, loss of appetite, constipa- 
tion of the bowels, acid eructations from the stomach, 
slight pains in the bowels, caused by wind, a tight, 
full feeling in the stomach ; restlessness at night, bad 
dreams, slow, weak pulse ; some sickness at the 
stomach, and, sometimes, slight creeping chills ; after 
a few days, there is an intolerable itching over the 
body, bitter taste in the mouth, the urine becomes 
saffron color, and the yellow color of the skin extends 
over the whole body, and the skin is dry and husky. 
Occasionally, the disease comes on suddenly, the yel- 
lowness of the eyes and skin becoming general, within 
one day from the first symptoms. The cause is a 
stoppage of the flow of healthy bile, either from some 
obstruction of the gall duct, or, more generally, the 
liver is in such condition that it does not secrete 
healthy bile. 

Treatment. — The treatment should aim to remove 
the obstruction of the duct, or stimulate the liver to 



154 THE HOUSE WE LIVE m. 

perform its functions. The circulation should be 
equalized, by warming the extremities; put the 
patient in bed, cover up warm, give a fever powder, 
a full dose; put a large mustard plaster over the 
liver, give plenty of warm teas, and produce a free 
perspiration as soon as possible. The next morning, 
give a light cathartic, five or six corrective pills, or, 
what is preferable, if the patient can take it, a dose 
of medicamentum, enough to move the bowels freely ; 
let the patient be bathed all over in spirits and water, 
or saleratus and water, every morning before rising, 
being careful not to uncover enough of the body to 
produce a chill; after sponging one limb, rub 
thoroughly with coarse crash towel until dry, and, if 
possible, a red glow produced. Put on the mustard 
every night, and, every other night, give the fever 
powder, warm tea, etc., followed, the next morning, 
by the pills or the medicamentum. Give also, to an 
adult, a tea-spoonful of the following solution, viz. : 
iodide of potassium one ounce, pure water one pint ; 
three times per day before meals. If the tongue is 
coated and the patient has fever, give a table-spoonful 
(to an adult) of quinine bitters, once in three hours, 
through the day, until the tongue is clean, and the 
fever has entirely abated. Continue the fever powder 
at night, every other night, and the physic in the 
morning, until the discharges from the bowels assume 
a healthy appearance. If there is much pain, restless- 
ness, or fever, a fever powder should be given, once 



TKEATMENT OF JAUNDICE. 155 

in six hours, until that subsides. It is very necessary 
to keep up action of the skin, as there is a strong 
sympathy between the skin and the liver. It has 
been the common practice to give calomel in this dis- 
ease. I am firmly of the opinion that every dose of 
calomel given in this disease, is productive of harm, 
by weakening the nervous system. If the disease is 
violent, I would give, at the commencement, three or 
four grains of blue mass, mixed with one grain of 
opium, every other night, followed, the next morning, 
by the corrective pills or the medicamentum. 

About the year 1850, Mrs. N. G , of Bloom- 

ingdale, was taken violently with vomiting and purg- 
ing, with pain in the stomach and bowels. Gave her 
one-fourth grain of morphine, once in two hours, upon 
her tongue, without drinks of any sort, which relieved 
her very soon. Upon inquiry, I found that, for seve- 
ral days, she had felt weak, and that the discharges 
from the bowels had been light-colored, nearly white. 
There was no pain or soreness about the region of the 
liver ; there was a complete stoppage of bile, a heavy, 
gnawing pain, and a sick, death-like feeling at the 
stomach ; she was restless and uneasy. I put strong 
mustard plasters over the liver and stomach, and gave 
her blue-pill and opium every night, at bedtime. In 
the course of four or five days, she would either vomit 
every thing, immediately, or it would pass her bowels 
within five minutes from the time she swallowed it. 



156 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN*. 

She lost flesh very fast, and in two weeks was a per- 
fect skeleton. Within this time, three of the oldest 
and best physicians within twenty miles were called 
to see her. After investigating the case, they could 
offer nothing new, and gave the opinion that she 
would die. I came to the conclusion that this was a 
case where mercury did more harm than good, and 
that every dose only reduced her more. I quit it 
entirely, and, in place of it, gave her a pill composed 
of beef's gall and opium, one grain each, morning and 
evening, and, three times per day, as much pepsin as 
would lie upon a silver five cent piece. This had the 
desired effect ; she ceased vomiting, and in less than 
two days the medicine was retained in her stomach 
for the proper time ; in four or five days she had some 
appetite, commenced eating light food, and was soon 
gaining rapidly. I continued the gall and opium for 
four weeks, then reduced the quantity given at a dose, 
gradually, for two weeks, then ceased entirely ; she 
was well. The beef's gall had .supplied the place of 
healthy bile, and the pepsin the place of the gastric 
juice, until the liver had time to resume its functions. 
Thus nature had been assisted in her operations, and 
a cure effected. Who believes that calomel, or mer- 
cury in any form, would have done any thing but 
hasten her death \ If that course had been pursued, 
and it was advised by two of the three physicians 
called, she would have died, but it would have been a 
scientific way of killing. In this case, there was a 



CASE OF LIVEE COMPLAINT. 157 

complete suspension of the functions of the liver; 
no bile was secreted, and for the want of natural bile 
in the stomach, or duodenum, the condition related 
existed. 

Case of Liver Complaint. — The following case of 
disease of the general health, is better entitled to the 
appellation of Liver Complaint, than many that are 
so called : Mr. B had lived in the marshy dis- 
tricts of Michigan, and had been in the army some 
time in the Southern States, and in the Valley of the 
Mississippi. He had had many attacks of the Fever 
and Ague, which had been cut short by large doses 
of quinine ; he had had frequent attacks of Diarrhoea, 
and these had been cured by taking, first, a strong 
dose of calomel and rhubarb, followed, after the opera 
tion of the physic, with powders or pills of opium and 
tannin. Moreover, he was rather a reckless, go-ahead 
man, and whatsoever his hands found to do, when he 
did work, he did it with all his might. When he 
came to me, he was pretty thoroughly broken down. 
He could not saw off a stick of wood, without panting 
and palpitating like a chased-down animal. He was 
generally constipated in the bowels, with occasional 
diarrhoea, with light and clay-colored discharges. I 
directed, for him, a liver pill at night, and two cor- 
rective pills the next morning, for a week ; then the 
liver pill eveiy other night, and the corrective pills 
the next morning, until he had taken six more ; in 
the mean time, a table-spoonful of quinine bitters, 



158 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

three times a day, before meals. I told him to come 
and see me again in a fortnight ; he came accordingly. 
His condition was very much improved. Directed 
cascarilla bitters, three times a day, before meals, cor 
rective pills every night, at bedtime, when the bowels 
have not moved freely within the last twenty-four 
hours. This case occurred two years ago; and the 
patient, the present year, has done more work than 
any other man in this town. He has, occasionally, 
what he calls a bilious turn, but the cascarilla bitters, 
with a little boneset added, and the corrective pills, 
set him right. P. S. 

DISEASE OF THE GENERAL HEALTH. 

Cases often occur in this State, and many times in 
York State, which I have called disease of the gene- 
ral health. There is general torpor, or perverted 
action of all the secretory organs. This condition 
will generally be called by physicians Liver Com- 
plaint. The liver, indeed, suffers in common with all 
the other vital actions; the bowels are either con- 
stantly costive, or generally costive, with occasional 
attacks of diarrhoea ; the skin is usually dry and harsh, 
but sometimes a clammy sweat breaks out ; the appe- 
tite is variable, but generally deficient ; many kinds 
of food oppress the stomach ; dyspeptic symptoms 
appear, owing to the deficient secretion of the gastric, 
pancreatic, and salivary secretions, necessary to the 
process of digestion ; a sallow countenance, a want of 



DISEASE OF THE GENEKAL HEALTH. 159 

energy, low spirits, general debility, a bad taste in 
the mouth, a feeling of weariness, frequent palpita- 
tions, and many nervous, unaccountable and strange 
feelings, are usual symptoms. This condition is 
brought on by something too hard for the system to 
bear with impunity. Many cases are produced by 
suddenly checking the perspiration with cold, when 
much heated. It may also be caused by any thing 
else that overcomes the vital actions of the body, so 
as to injure the constitution too much for recuperation. 
A violent fit of sickness some times leaves the patient 
in this condition. A sudden shock, great grief, or 
long-continued troubles, may produce it. Physicians 
often prescribe, for this diseased condition, a mercurial 
course. This is wrong, and usually does more harm 
than good. The vital organs have been overdone by 
the cause of disease ; it is as bad to over-do them with 
strong medicine as any thing else. I have often suc- 
ceeded in these cases with an infusion of some bitter 
medicine, three times a day, before meals, and some 
tonic laxative, every other night, as in the following 
case. P. S. 

Case of Disease of the General Health. — In the 
spring of the year, about 1840, Henry Munson, son 
of Deacon Munson, of Madison county, came to me 
about thirty miles, and stated that he had been sick, 
or in poor health, nearly two years, and had been 

recommended by the Rev. Mr. B to come and see 

me. He was about twenty years of age, and of a 



160 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IK. 

sallow and rather dejected countenance. He com- 
plained of no particular pain, but a dull, heavy feel- 
ing in the head, and sometimes had the sick' head- 
ache. He felt a weak, tired feeling, constantly, as 
much on rising in the morning as at any time ; never 
felt rested by sleep. He could not work, and had no 
strength, and a little exertion produced palpitation 
and short breath ; he was very much troubled with 
costiveness. On questioning him concerning his 
former life, and the origin of his ailment, he said that 
in harvest time, nearly two years before, he had been 
laboring very hard, in a very hot day, and had sweat 
profusely. At night, with some other boys, he went 
to a cold brook, near by, and bathed in the water 
some time. He was taken with a chill while in the 
water, and soon was much distressed with cramps in 
his bowels, legs and arms. His comrades helped him 
home, and the family sent for a physician ; but he 
knew nothing that night, and knows not now what 
was done for him. He was relieved of the violent 
attack, and was about in a few days, but has not been 
able to work since. He had been to several physi- 
cians; had taken mercury in the form of blue-pill, 
until the gums became affected with it, almost to sali- 
vation, but nothing had benefited him much. As he 
was very costive, I thought I would try, first, how 
much it would relieve him to remove that difficulty. 
I directed him to take enough of my corrective pills, 
every other night (probably from two to iive), to 



DYSPEPSY. 161 

move the bowels the next day, and to take one-third 
of a tea-cupful of infusion of guaiac three times a 
day, before meals ; and to come and see me again in 
a fortnight. I never saw him again, but the reverend 
gentleman that advised him to come to me, called on 
me, in the fall after, and told me that my prescription 
cured him entirely, in two or three weeks, and he had 
been the smartest man on his father's farm through 
the summer, and the leader of all his hands. P. S. 

DYSPEPSY. 

This may be properly called a disease of the general 
health, or, perhaps, more properly, a symptom of such 
disease, or of disease of the liver. It is seldom of itself 
a disease ; the stomach does not alone suffer. It is a 
distressing symptom, and the patient suffering from it 
is in an atmosphere of horrors ; nothing is right ; turn 
which way he will, there is gloom, and only gloom, 
and that continually. Probably as much harm has 
been done by powerful medicines in diseases in which 
Dyspepsy is a symptom, as in any other. The 
stomach is in such condition that it will not bear 
many kinds of nourishing and digestible food, much 
less powerful medicines. The liver is torpid, and,, 
consequently, the bowels constipated. The correct 
treatment is to promote the action of the liver, 
strengthen the vital functions, and thus restore the 
healthy action of the stomach and bowels. Mercury 
in every form, and drastic physic, must be rejected 
11 



162 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

nothing must be taken that disturbs the stomach in 
the least, but such food, and such only, as you find 
digests readily, without producing pain, or even dis- 
tress. Put a mustard plaster over the liver every 
night, do not let it blister ; wash the body and limbs 
all over, every morning, in spirits and water, or salt 
and water, or saleratus water, and rub with a brush 
or coarse towel, until the skin looks red ; take a small 
pill of beef's gall, morning and evening ; take a tea- 
spoonful of liquid pepsin, or as much powdered pepsin 
as will lie upon a five cent silver piece, fifteen minutes 
before each meal; take a little infusion of quassia, 
three or four times daily ; drink strong beer freely, if 
it agrees with the stomach, but not otherwise ; keep 
the bowels freely open, every day^ by talcing injections 
of Castile soap and water. As soon as your stomach 
is strong enough to bear it, take the iodide of potas- 
sium and the cascarilla bitters, three times per day. 
If the tongue is coated with a brown coat, take a 
grain of quinine, with one-sixteenth of a grain of mor- 
phine, once in three hours, until the coat is removed. 

Try these directions to the letter and in their spirit, 
and, in a few months, your Dyspepsy will be known 
only as a thing of the past. 

N. B. — -Take all the exercise you can bear. 

Another Case of Disease of the General Health. — 

In the summer of 1857, Mr. S called on me ; said 

he lived in Canada ; had been out of health, not able 



DYSPEPSY. 163 

to labor for a year and a half; had now come to 
Illinois to visit his friends, and by them had been 
advised to come and see me. He was in that condi- 
tion which I have described, and which I call disease 
of the general health. I told him what I called his 
disease, and told him I supposed that something had 
happened to him which was too hard for the system 
to bear, without permanent injury; and questioned 
him in this manner : " Have you ever had a very 
hard fit of sickness ?" " No, I don't know as I have ; 
I never was sick much until this came upon me." 
" Do you have any great trouble to bear upon you ?" 
" Not at all ; I should have no trouble, if my health 
was good." " Well, you must have had something 
hard enough to overcome and derange the regular 
functions of the system. Have you never, when very 
warm and in a state of perspiration, been suddenly 
chilled, and the perspiration checked V After think- 
ing a little, " O yes," says he ; "I was rafting on the 
river ; it was a very warm day ; I had worked very 
hard putting the raft together, and had become very 
tired and warm ; the raft ran on to a snag, and broke 
in two ; I was in the water, sometimes up to the neck, 
for an hour or more, in getting the raft together ; I 
became very much chilled, and have not been well 
since that time." I gave him cascarilla bitters, to 
take two table-spoonfuls, three times a day, before 
meals, and corrective pills, to take every other night. 
I gave him enough to last three weeks, and directed 



164 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

him to call and see me in a fortnight. He did not 
come again. A month after, I was passing a hay 

field, where men were hard at work ; one was S ; 

he hailed me, and informed me his health was good. 
He had been to work hard for a fortnight. P. S. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



HYSTEEICS. 



This is truly a " protean disease," simulating almost 
every disease of the human system. It is, in an 
important degree, a nervous disease, manifesting itself 
by diseased action in every muscle and organ of the 
body. It generally exists with a very excitable state 
of the system, in which some diseased state has for a 
long time existed, or which inherits a fragile and 
excitable constitution from infirm and nervous 
parents. This predisposition to nervous irritability 
and disease may be produced by any long-standing 
disease of any particular organ, as of the liver or 
spleen, or by any derangement of any of the secretory 
organs, or any debilitating discharge, as leucorrhcea 
or menorrhagia ; or any obstruction of any natural or 
long-accustomed discharge, as amenorrhcea; or any 
continued irritation, as from prolapsus or piles. This 
disease sometimes manifests itself by singular freaks, 
such as sudden and unaccountable changes, from 
apparently most poignant grief to the most boisterous 
hilarity ; one moment crying most piteously, the next 
moment laughing immoderately. And again, it pro- 
duces strong convulsions, often of the most violent 



166 THE HOUSE WE LIYE IN, 

kind. These convulsions may take place in weak 
and feeble constitutions, with pale, exsanguined 
visages, and a small, feeble pulse, or in strong, robust 
constitutions, with a flushed face and bounding pulse. 
In the treatment of these convulsions, very different 
treatment is required. The robust should be bled, 
nauseated with tartarized antimony, and purged with 
salts. The feeble should be treated with ether and 
laudanum, and other stimulating antispasmodics, and 
the bowels relieved with rhubarb and magnesia. 
The proper treatment for hysterical patients is to 
restore the general health. For directions how to do 
it, see Disease of the General Health, Liver Com- 
plaint, Menorrhagia, Leucorrhoea, Amenorrhoea, Pro- 
lapsus, etc. P. S. 

DELIEIUM TKEMENS. 

This disease is mostly confined to intemperate 
drinkers of ardent spirits, wine, or beer. It may 
affect the opium eater, or the habitual taker of any 
stimulus. It is occasioned by the sudden abatement, 
or breaking off, of an accustomed stimulus ; and is 
characterized by general uneasiness, constant trem- 
bling, wakefulness, cool skin, with sometimes a clammy 
perspiration, a constant delirious talking, strange 
imaginings, suspicions, and illusions of the senses. 
There are various degrees of the disease. In some 
cases, the patient may be controlled and quieted by 
one judicious friend in whom he confides ; in others, 



DELIEIUM TKEMENS. 167 

it needs three or four resolute and stout men to keep 
him from killing himself and all around him. 

In all ordinary cases, success has attended the fol- 
lowing treatment: Wash the body all over with 
warm salt water, with considerable friction; bathe 
the feet and legs in water, as hot as can be borne ; 
apply mustard drafts to the feet ; give a Dover's pow- 
der, well charged with camphor, and followed with 
warm diaphoretic drinks. In about four hours after 
the powder, give physic ; some good bilious pills, or 
rhubarb and magnesia, if the patient be rather feeble ; 
or salts and magnesia, if the patient is plethoric and 
robust. After the physic, give another powder ; give 
quinine bitters once in two hours, with some proper 
nourishment after each dose — beef tea is excellent, 
chicken tea, milk porridge, etc. After taking the 
quinine bitters a few days, substitute quassia bitters, 
or chamomile flowers, say an ounce of rasped quassia 
wood in half a pint of spirits, and a pint of water 
with four ounces of sugar, if desired ; give two table- 
spoonfuls three times a day, before meals. After a 
week or ten days, give up the spirits, take cold 
chamomile tea, or infusion of quassia, when inclina- 
tion is felt for spirits. Drink no spirits ; save your- 
self from a disgraceful death, your soul from eternal 
ruin. P. S. 



168 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 



TETANUS TRISMUS, OR LOCK-JAW. 

This is a terrible disease. It consists in violent 
tonic spasms of the muscles, with the mental powers 
and sensation in full vigor. It is divided into dif- 
ferent varieties : Trismus, or lock-jaw, when it affects 
chiefly the muscles of the jaw and throat ; when it 
bends the body backward, it is called opisthotonos ; 
and when it bends it forward, it is emprothotonos. 
These distinctions are of no consequence in practice : 
there is a distinction, however, of more consequence. 
It sometimes arises from general causes, such as cold 
or poisons, this is called idiopathic tetanus; but, 
generally, it is preceded by some wound or injury, it 
is then called traumatic tetanus. This last is excited 
by various organic lesions, such as bruises, burns, and 
wounds, and especially punctured wounds and gun- 
shot wounds. A punctured wound in the palm of 
the hand or bottom of the foot is most apt to produce 
it. A prick of a pin or a sliver under the nail is 
dangerous in hot weather, and when the system is 
heated. Such lacerated and punctured wounds are 
generally very painful, and soon become inflamed. 
They should be kept constantly wet with water, or 
spirits and water; and if severe and unyielding, a 
cathartic of Epsom salts should be given. A punc- 
tured wonnd that swells, inflames, and is very painful, 
should have vent given to it, by opening freely with 
a lancet, if the above application does not give relief. 



ANGINA PECTOEIS. 169 

When the wound suppurates, and purulent matter is 
discharged, the danger of lock-jaw is diminished. If 
the muscles of the neck and jaw become rigid and 
painful, with occasional spasms, apply warm poultices 
to the wound ; steep a drachm of tobacco in half a 
pint of white lye, and with this wet up a poultice of 
bran or coarse flour. If the patient be plethoric, 
with much arterial excitement, bleed, or give Dover's 
powder. Lower the pulse with nauseating doses of 
tartarked antimony. Tobacco injections, if the spasms 
increase. And, finally, if nothing else succeed, keep 
up intoxication with Madeira wine, or brandy, if you 
can not get the wine. P. S. 

ANGINA PECTORIS. 

A suffocating pain of the breast. This disease con- 
sists of sudden paroxysms ot pain and suffocation. 
The fit comes on suddenly, often when the patient is 
walking, with a severe lancinating or stabbing pain, 
commencing, generally, at the lower part of the 
breast-bone, and extending up across the breast to the 
left shoulder, and to the arm as low as the middle, and 
often to the elbow, and even to the end of the fingers ; 
with difficulty of breathing, great anxiety, and sense 
of suffocation. Medical writers express different 
opinions as to the nature or proximate cause of this 
disease. Many have thought it to be occasioned by 
some organic disease of the heart, or ossification of the 
arteries in its vicinity. Indeed, the disease often 



170 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

exists in conjunction with these organic affections ; 
but, as it often exists without the accompaniment of 
these, others, with more propriety, believe it to con- 
sist in a neuralgic affection of the heart, or of the 
cardiac plexus of the heart, and of the nerves con- 
nected. The cause of this disease seems to be some- 
thing that vitiates the fluids of the system, and is 
often connected with Dyspepsy and derangement of 
the assimilating organs. The cause may be of mias- 
matic origin, and the most successful treatment is on 
that supposition. During the paroxysm, give Dover's 
powder, with some warm diaphoretic tea after it, once 
in four hours ; keep the feet warm, and apply mustard 
drafts to them, with a mustard plaster over the 
affected part. During the remissions, keep up an 
external irritation over the affected part, by repeated 
small blisters or issues, or an irritating ointment or 
plaster, made with tartar emetic ; and give corrective 
pills every other night, enough to move the bowels 
in the course of the next day ; and a pill, as large as 
a large pea, every morning, made of equal parts of 
asafcetida and Castile soap ; and quinine bitters, once 
in three hours through the day, until relieved, then 
cascarilla bitters, two table-spoonfuls before each meal, 
for an adult. P. S. 

INCONTINENCE OF UEINE, 

Is when a person is unable to retain the urine, and it 
passes off involuntarily. It may be occasioned by 



EETENTION OF TTKmE. 171 

paralysis, as in aged people, or by weakness, as in 
children. Children are particularly liable to inconti- 
nence of urine, and most generally when asleep. 
A blister to the lower part of the back has been 
recommended. A preferable way is to give tincture 
of cantharides, from ten to twenty drops, according to 
the age, three times a day, an hour after meals. A 
tea of uva ursi and gum arabic is good to drink seve- 
ral times a day, and the drops may be taken in a 
little of this tea. Cascarilla bitters will be proper in 
some cases, where tonics are indicated, and the bowels 
should be kept regular with magnesia and rhubarb, 
or rhubarb syrup. Many cases have been cured with 
no other medicine than the tincture of cantharides. 

Retention of urine is called strangury ; difficulty 
and pain in making water is called dysury. Reten- 
tion may be caused by going too long without empty- 
ing the bladder, which, by distention, becomes too 
weak to contract and expel its contents. This some- 
times may be remedied by dashing cold water on the 
body, over the bladder, or by placing cloths wet with 
strong salt water or camphor spirits over the bladder ; 
but this condition generally requires the catheter, 
and the water should be drawn off three times a day, 
until the bladder regains its power. Retention of 
urine may be caused by some obstruction, as stone, or 
by inflammation of the neck of the bladder, or of the 
mucous coat, or spasm of the muscles. These obstruc- 
tions should be removed by appropriate means. 



172 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Difficult and painful urinating is relieved with 
spirits of nitre and laudanum, from twenty to forty 
drops of the latter to twice the quantity of the former, 
with mucilage of slippery elm, gum arabic, etc. Uva 
ursi tea, freely taken, is often very useful. Balsam 
copaiva and spirits of nitre, equal parts of each, a tea- 
spoonful of the mixture two or three times a day, 
where there is a chronic inflammation of the mucous 
membrane, is very serviceable. P. S. 

SICK HEADACHE. 

This is a very common and afflicting affection. It 
affects mostly constitutions which are deficient in 
vigor in some part of the organizations, in consequence 
of which, derangement of the functions of the stomach, 
the process of digestion and assimilation, is induced 
from slight causes, or at least from causes which more 
robust constitutions, or those with stronger digestive 
powers, are able to resist. Sick headache is often 
attended with a habit of costiveness, and is prevented 
or cured by procuring daily a free discharge from the 
bowels. I have, in many cases, entirely removed the 
habit of frequent sick headache, by directing my cor- 
rective pills to be taken every night, when the bowels 
have not moved freely within the last twenty-four 
hours, in sufficient quantity to move the bowels in 
the course of the next day. The regular motion of 
the bowels prevents the accumulation of that acidity 
or vicious viscosity which is the proximate or imme- 



SICK HEADACHE. 173 

diate cause of the headache. In those persons subject 
to this affection, it will often be brought on by any 
deviation from their ordinary mode of life, as a change 
of diet, or in the time of taking their meals. Even a 
dinner one hour later than usual, is liable to cause it. 
If such a person is rather unaccustomed to ride out, a 
few hours' ride is sure to produce it ; and attending 
a lecture, a fair, or any other doings of a little more 
than ordinary excitement, is sure to be followed by 
this dreaded affliction. Affections of the mind, espe- 
cially of the depressing kind, will also cause it. When 
the affection is brought on by any deviation from the 
ordinary routine of daily life, it is generally removed 
by a few hours of rest and sleep. But it must be 
remembered there is a wrong state of the system, 
which makes the person liable to these attacks, and 
which generally may be remedied. 

When there is an excess of acid in the stomach, 
which is often the case, an attack of sick headache 
may generally be thrown off by taking spirits of 
ammonia and laudanum, fifteen drops of each in a 
gill of water. If this does not relieve in one hour, it 
may be repeated. Vomiting, produced by taking a 
tea-spoonful of ground mustard seed, mixed in half a 
pint of warm water, and taken at once, or a table- 
spoonful of common salt, mixed with the like quantity 
of warm water, and swallowed at one draught, is most 
sure to break up the paroxysm, and give relief imme- 
diately. 



174 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

There are many kinds of periodical headaches, 
which are ranked by the sufferer with sick headache, 
which involve a more or less diseased state of 
the system, than common sick headaches. A person 
may have headache which comes on every day, or 
once in two or three days, and affects some particular 
part of the head, frequently over one eye, and con- 
tinues from two or three to twelve hours or more. 
This is a misplaced intermittent, and is cured by 
taking quinine bitters once in three hours, during the 
intermissions, and the Dover's powder once in six 
hours, during the paroxysm, and regulate the bowels. 

Those headaches called neuralgia or nervous head- 
ache, are generally cured by a course of quinine bit- 
ters and corrective pills, or some other tonic laxative, 
to keep up a free and soluble state of the bowels. 

Headache may be caused by different derangements 
of the stomach. A man once came to me and com- 
plained of an exceedingly sour stomach, with occa- 
sional severe headaches. I gave him corrective pills 
to regulate his bowels, and ordered lime water and 
carbonate of ammonia for the excessive acidity of the 
stomach. He complained that the alkalies made him 
worse. I substituted dilute nitric acid, forty-five 
drops in a gill of sweetened water, three times a day. 
It was a perfect cure. The stomach wanted acid, 
instead of having an excess. P. S. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ASTHMA. 



Asthma is a paroxysmal affection of the lungs and 
organs used in breathing. The air cells are supposed 
to contract with each breath, thus producing great 
difficulty of breathing, tightness across the breast, 
and a sense of impending suffocation, without fever 
or local inflammation. In the majority of cases, 
symptoms of derangement of the stomach precede 
for several days an attack of this disease. A sense 
of weight and fullness, acid eructations, want of appe- 
tite, or an unnatural appetite, heart-burn, wind in the 
stomach and bowels, weight over the eyes, itching of 
the skin, etc. The paroxysm generally comes on at 
night during sleep. The patient is seized with great 
anxiety, difficulty of breathing, and stricture across 
the breast, and a short, dry cough. In a very short 
time these symptoms become appalling in their vio- 
lence ; the breathing becomes wheezing, extremely 
laborious, gasping, suffocating ; the countenance shows 
intense anxiety and distress; the heart generally palpi- 
tates violently. The desire for fresh air and plenty 
of it is very urgent, the patient insisting upon the 
doors and windows being thrown open, even in the 



176 THE HOUSE WE LIVE m. 

coldest weather ; or he starts from his bed and rushes 
to the window for fresh air, and is wholly unable to 
remain in the recumbent posture. The extremities 
are generally cool, but sometimes of a natural tem- 
perature, and moist ; the face is bloated and livid, or 
pale, and the veins of the head and neck are full and 
show plainly. The pulse is irregular, intermitting, 
quicker than common, or moderately full and com- 
pressible; sometimes it is nearly natural, and occa- 
sionally it is full, active, and firm. After these 
symptoms have continued for an uncertain length of 
time, the breathing gradually becomes less laborious 
and anxious, and towards morning a copious expecto- 
ration of viscid mucus generally ensues, which gives 
great relief. During the next day the patient has 
very little uneasiness. On the next night, however, 
the paroxysm of suffocating breathing returns, some- 
times with increased force and power, and in this 
way the disease proceeds, with remissions by day and 
violent paroxysms at night, for three or four days in 
succession, and often much longer, before it finally 
subsides. During the paroxysms the urine is almost 
always pale and copious, and the abdomen distended 
with wind. Patients sometimes feel, about the com- 
mencement of the paroxysms, as if a free evacuation 
of the bowels would certainly afford them great relief; 
but this feeling is almost invariably deceptive. No 
real pain is felt in the chest during the paroxysms. 
Asthma is caused by particular conditions of the 



ASTHMA. 177 

atmosphere, in relation to its dryness, or otherwise, 
electricity and temperature. Most persons subject to 
this disease bear a dry and warm air much better 
than a cold and wet one, and they generally breathe 
easier in a pure and unconfined air. But sometimes 
the reverse is the case. Some breathe better in popu- 
lous cities, or crowded rooms. Some suffer most dur- 
ing warm weather; others in winter, or about the 
autumnal and vernal equinoxes. Various irritating 
matters inhaled into the lungs; the suppression of 
habitual discharges, like the drying up of long-stand- 
ing ulcers, or of the monthly discharges ; translation 
of rheumatism or gout ; cold bath, or application of 
cold water in inflammatory diseases ; cold when the 
body is in a state of free perspiration, and particularly 
suppressed perspiration of the feet; strong mental 
emotions; particular odors and articles of diet, like 
odor of musk, roses, red beets, fresh hog, sealing wax ; 
are given as causes of Asthma. But by far the most 
common exciting cause is organic affections of the 
heart. 

An attack of Spasmodic Asthma seldom proves 
fatal. It is not uncommon to meet with persons of 
advanced age who have long been subject to this- 
disease. 

Treatment, — The treatment of this disease is merely 
paliative, or radical, according as we prescribe for the 
mitigation and removal of the paroxysms, or the pre- 
vention of their recurrence during the intervals of the 
12 



178 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

fits. What will cure one person often will Lave no 
effect upon another ; and what will cure a person at 
at one time may not have any effect upon the same 
person at another time. 

Bleeding was formerly resorted to in nearly every 
case. I would not recommend it in any case, par- 
ticularly if it occurred in the West, or in a person 
who has resided in the West or South. 

Narcotics have been a good deal employed, with a 
view of allaying the paroxysms. I know a large, 
corpulent man who was troubled with it, who found 
relief very soon by using a mixture of ipecac, one 
ounce, opium, one ounce, and brandy, one pint, mixed 
and shaken thoroughly together. He would take a 
tea-spoonful of this once an hour until he was relieved. 
It would generally sicken but not vomit him. Hyos- 
cyamus and stramonium, also, may be used. A quar- 
ter of a grain of the extract every four hours is a 
dose. In one case a quarter of a grain of the extract 
of stramonium was taken once in four hours for two 
days. The disease did not return again for nine 
months. 

The leaves and root of stramonium, smoked in a 
pipe, often has a very marked effect. 

When a case is attended with catarrh, and a copious 
secretion of mucus in the throat, an emetic of ipecac 
is proper. When it comes on after eating a full meal 
this is proper. 

Skunk cabbage is said, by some writers, to be a 



WHOOPING COUGH. 179 

good remedy. From thirty to fifty grains of the 
powdered root may be taken every two or three 
hours during the paroxysm. 

It has been admitted by the profession, for a long 
time, that lobelia is one of the best remedies, if not 
the very best, that can be used in this disease. A 
table-spoonful of the saturated tincture may be taken 
every half hour until relief is obtained. It may be 
taken in this way until it produces sickness at the 
stomach. It should stop then, unless it is desirable 
that vomiting should be produced. Alkalies, like 
soda, saleratus, or weak lye, should be taken, if there 
is reason to suspect acidity of the stomach. 

If the patient has any other disease, that should 
be treated according to the directions. 

WHOOPING COUGH. 

This disease is contagious, and makes its advent 
in from nine to fourteen days from the time of expo- 
sure. It is a spasmodic affection of the air-passages 
of the lungs, and, during the paroxysms of coughing, 
these passages contract more or less violently, and as 
the patient draws in air, a sound is made resembling 
a whoop. 

In ordinary cases no particular treatment is neces- 
sary. The stomach, during the progress of the dis- 
ease, is lined with a mucus, which is of an acid nature, 
and to counteract this the simplest way is the best. 
For this purpose take ashes made of some live, hard 



180 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

wood, (hickory wood is best), make a lye of these 
strong enough so that it will feel slippery in the 
fingers ; put one or two tea-spoonfuls of this lye into 
a small tumbler of water and let the patient use it 
as a common drink. Do nothing else, unless the 
patient has a cold and cough connected with the 
disease, and then give the mildest expectorants. Our 
cough elixir is the best remedy I know of. If the 
cough is very severe, and the soreness of the lungs 
great, I would give the patient, if a child, from two 
to four years old, a tea-spoonful, two or three times 
per day, of a solution made of one grain of morphine 
to two ounces of water ; for a child from five to ten, 
I would give from one and a half to three tea-spoon- 
fuls, given in addition to the regular dose of the cough 
elixir. The habit some people have of giving power- 
ful medicine from the commencement of the disease, 
is wrong ; it weakens the stomach, destroys the appe- 
tite, and renders the patient unable to bear the dis- 
ease. Its natural course is from four to six weeks. 
It is said that after three weeks if the patient is 
vaccinated, and it works well, the disease will be 
arrested. 

ISTCGHTMAKE. 

This is a suspension of the power of motion, and 
also generally a cessation [of the circulation. The 
patient awakes out of sleep, but can neither speak or 



st. vitus' dance. 181 

move, .and feels as though a weight was laying on the 
stomach. 

It is not attended with much danger, but the 
patient may lie for some time unless touched or 
shaken by some other person, when they will sud- 
denly recover. It is caused by over-eating, or eating 
some food not easily digested just before retiring, and 
then laying on the back. If there is much pain or 
feeling of weight, a little soda, or saleratus water, or 
some stimulant, should be taken. But a better way 
is to avoid it by eating a light supper several hours 
before retiring to rest. 

st. vitus' dance. — chorea sancti viti. 

This is a disease in which the limbs, the head, and 
all the parts of the body, which in health are moved 
according to, or by direction of, the will, are moved 
without the will, or against the will. It generally 
attacks the young, between the ages of seven and 
twenty, though not always confined to persons be- 
tween those ages. Slender constitutions, of a fragile 
and nervous make, are most subject to it ; also, those 
deprived of sufficient or proper nourishment. I have 
cured many cases, and all, except one, that I ever 
had, by the following treatment : Take physic of 
rhubarb and magnesia, or of corrective pills, every 
other night; cascarilla bitters three times a day 
before meals, and a small blister on the limbs once in 
two or three days, or sometimes on the back. In 



182 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

some cases, where a girl had not constitutional energy 
enough to pass promptly from girlhood to woman- 
hood, I have used, with complete success, the tincture 
of cantharides instead of blistering, to be taken three 
times a day, half an hour after meals, commencing 
with twenty drops, and increasing one drop each dose 
until a little strangury is produced, then begin back 
with twenty drops and increase as before. The one 
excepted, as mentioned above, was a young lady thir- 
teen or fourteen years old. I had prescribed for her 
in the above manner, which had in every case before 
been completely and promptly successful. I called 
to see her in about ten days after the first prescrip- 
tion, and to my surprise there was no amendment. 
I then investigated the case more particularly, and 
found the stomach and bowels rather full and bloated ; 
that she had a dry, hacking cough, and at times a 
voracious appetite, which did not seem to satisfy the 
hunger ; and that she frequently started and moaned 
in her sleep; and, on inquiry, found that she was 
sometimes very white about the mouth and nose, 
with a great deal of itching in the nostrils, I con- 
cluded to try a course for worms. Gave a tea-spoon- 
ful of the down of cowhage in the morning, fasting, 
in molasses, three mornings in succession, and the 
fourth morning fifteen grains of calomel in an ounce of 
castor oil. The nurse said it brought away a quart of 
worms. She was cured. She took the bitters a while 
after this. P. S. 



APOPLEXY. 183 



I have seen one case of this disease that was cured 
by quinine bitters and corrective pills. It was caused, 
no doubt, by marsh effluvia. S. P. S. 



APOPLEXY. 



Apoplexy is occasioned by pressure on the brain. 
The patient is insensible, and breathes with a noise 
like hard snoring, the breath being slow and deep. 
When the pressure is occasioned by a broken piece of 
skull bone pressing on the brain, the patient is relieved 
by raising the bone and removing the pressure. 
When the pressure is occasioned by a rupture of a 
blood vessel in the brain, it must generally be fatal. 
But I have known one case that partially recovered, 
and lived many years to old age, but was palsied on 
one side, yet retained the faculties of the mind in a 
good degree. This was a clergyman's wife, rather 
past the middle age. She was taken suddenly, while at 
work at something in the cellar, fell senseless, and was 
brought up in a state of apoplexy. She was cupped 
thoroughly in both temples, had active physic admin- 
istered, strong irritation made on the lower extremi- 
ties, first by mustard plasters, then by blisters, with 
the feet kept warm, and the head cool and elevated. 
Cases produced by distension of the blood vessels in 
the brain are frequently cured by the following treat- 
ment : Bleed, if the pulse be full ; thorough physic, 
say calomel, twenty grains, followed in two hours 
with cream of tartar and jalap, a tea-spoonful of eachy 



184 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

repeated once in two hours until it operates. In the 
mean time the head must be kept cool and a little 
raised, and the extremities warm, with strong drafts 
applied, which shall cover the feet and legs above the 
calf. After the patient is partially relieved, and some 
trouble in the head, or determination to the head, 
continues, apply small blisters just above the inner 
ankles, and keep the bowels open. This last kind of 
apoplexy may be caused by deep trouble, which 
unnerves the system and thereby debilitates the circu- 
lation, and the blood recedes to the deep-seated parts 
and compresses the brain. Oftener it is caused by 
over-exertion and over-heating; the same effect is 
produced as above. The treatment usually succeeds. 
But if the patient is too weak to equalize the circula- 
tion he dies. 

EPILEPSY. 

This disease seems to be caused by something that 
irritates the nervous system. If this irritation is 
something that can be removed, it is curable. When 
the irritation is directly on the brain, it is, of course, 
generally incurable. But the irritating cause is often 
in the stomach, when it may be removed, and the dis- 
ease is cured. The nervous system may be affected 
at the extremity of some of the nerves of the system, 
and conveyed from thence to the brain, and the dis- 
ease produced by worms in the stomach. The irrita- 
tion produced by marsh effluvia on the nervous sys- 



. 



EPILEPSY. 185 

torn; by that state of the female organs when the 
monthly evacuations do not take place ; or the injury 
of some nerve, may produce it. The paroxysms gene- 
rally come on suddenly ; the patient falls wherever he 
is. The whole body is affected with jerking, twitch- 
ing motions ; the breathing is difficult, and performed 
by the same forcible jerking or forced efforts expelling 
the frothy spittle from the mouth. These spasms may 
last but a few minutes, but sometimes they continue 
an hour or more. The treatment may be inferred 
from the following cases : 

Epilepsy — Case 1. — C , a boy ten or twelve 

years of age, with epileptic fits, sometimes two or 
three in a day, with occasionally, but seldom, an inter- 
mission of a week. He had been subject to these fits 
about two months. He had had a great number in 
that time, occurring more in the night than in the 
day time — sometimes six or eight in one night. 
Although the boy appeared lively and smart between 
the paroxysms, yet his countenance was sallow, his 
tongue considerably coated, and his whole appearance 
indicated a bilious derangement of the general health. 
On inquiry, I found that he had been in the habit, for 
some time before the epileptic attacks, of often going 
into the water of a deep sloughy pond hole, and play- 
ing in it an hour or more at a time. 

Prescribed quinine bitters once in two hours through 
the day; physic with Welsh medicamentum every 
other night. He was cured. The medicine was 
diminished by degrees for a month or more. 



186 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Epilepsy — Case 2. — A young lady of fifteen, of 
rather a full habit and flushed face, yet circulation 
sluggish, and the life-changes pertaining to her age 
slowly, irregularly, and with difficulty developed. 
Her father's house was on low ground, with a sluggish 
stream and slough near it. The parents were much 
alarmed about the daughter, and exhibited much 
anxiety. The girl had a permanent fur on the 
tongue, a frequent headache, capricious appetite, and 
constipation of the bowels. Began the treatment 
with corrective pills every other night ; quinine bit- 
ters once in three hours through the day. This con- 
tinued about two weeks. Then directed the quinine 
bitters three times a day, before meals ; the corrective 
pills to be continued, and a tea-spoonful of Dewee's 
tincture, in half a gill of milk, three times a day, half 
an hour after meals, for ten days before the monthly 
period. This course was followed about two months ; 
then the quinine bitters was changed for cascarilla 
bitters, two table-spoonfuls three times a day, before 
meals, and twenty drops of tincture of cantharides 
was directed three times a day, half an hour after 
meals, while she is not taking the Dewee tincture. 
She was entirely cured within the year, and has been 
exempt to this time, which is six years. 

Epilepsy — Case 3. — I have now under treatment, 
a young man about twenty. He has had epileptic 
fits a year, about two or three a week. He has been 
in the army three years, and a great part of the time 



EPILEPSY. 187 

in marshy districts, exposed to the influence of malaria. 
His countenance has the bilious aspect strongly. 
Directed quinine bitters three times a day, before 
meals, a blue pill every other night, and three correc- 
tive pills the next morning. In three weeks he called 
to see me ; thought himself much better ; had had no 
fits. Directed one drachm of quinine in a quart of 
Welsh medicamentum, and take a table-spoonful three 
times a day, before meals, when the bowels have not 
moved freely within twenty-four hours ; and add an 
ounce of boneset to three pints of cascarilla bitters, 
and take two table-spoonfuls three times a day, before 
meals, when the bowels have moved within twenty- 
four hours. He remains free from fits, now six weeks. 
I received, some ten or twelve years ago, from Rev. 
J. H. Warrell, formerly of Philadelphia, Pa., the fol- 
lowing recipe for the cure of Epilepsy. He had a son 
who, at the age of four years, was taken with Epi- 
lepsy. They knew of no cause. He continued to 
grow worse until he knew nothing, and you could 
stick pins in his flesh to the head, without his know- 
ing it. They had expended hundreds of dollars in 
vain attempts to cure him, until they were completely 
discouraged. At length there came along an old 
man, who was called a quack, who proposed to cure 
him and charge nothing except for medicine. The 
elder had no faith, and would not let him try. The 
grandfather of the boy proposed to pay for the medi- 
cine ; and, after much teasing, a trial was had. The 



188 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

boy gradually improved until he ceased to have the 
fits ; his intellectual power slowly returned. He had 
no fits for about eight years, when his father suddenly 
died. The boy was much attached to him. The fits 
returned, and in about three years he died with con- 
sumption. So far as I know, this remedy has cured 
every case, and this is the only case in which I have 
known it to return ; but I have only known of its 
being tried in four or five cases. 

Essence of peppermint and essence of cinnamon, each, one- 
third pint, quinine 96 grains, African cayenne 336 grains, pure 
ginger 840 grains, laudanum two ounces. Put the ingredients 
together in the order named ; shake thoroughly. Dose, a tea- 
spoonful three times per day ; if no improvement is procured 
in ten days, increase the dose gradually until twice the quan- 
tity is taken. It should be given in sweetened water. The 
bowels must be kept open with corrective pills or medica- 
mentum. 

There is some science about this prescription, if the 
disease is caused by marsh effluvia or debility, but if 
caused by any thing wrong about the brain, I can not 
see how it should effect a cure, unless it is by the 
opium suspending the nervous functions until the 
habit is broken up. There are many things in nature 
for which we can not account. I do not attempt to 
give the mode of operation of this medicine, neither 
do I care for the source from which it came. I do 
know that it has cured every case where I have 
known of its being tried, therefore I do not hesitate 



colic. 189 

to prescribe it in every case where milder means have 
failed. It is very strong, but patients with this dis- 
ease do not complain of it ; their taste seems to be 
depraved. The medicine is a sure cure for Fever and 
Ague, but as that can as well be cured with milder 
means, I would not prescribe it for that disease. 

COLIO. 

Writers have described many varieties of Colic. 
For our purpose, it is sufficient to mention three 
kinds : Flatulent or Wind Colic, Bilious Colic, and 
Painter's or Lead Colic. Colic may be distinguished 
from inflammation of the bowels, by the absence of 
fever, and by the effect of pressure on the bowels, 
which, in Colic, gives relief, but, in inflammation of 
the bowels, increases the pain. 

Common Colic is that which most frequently comes 
under the head of Flatulent Colic, and is occasioned, 
generally, by something taken into the stomach, 
which, under present circumstances, being deranged 
by fatigue or sudden changes from heat to cold, it 
does not readily digest. The pain often commences 
at the pit of the stomach, and frequently centres 
around the naval in the umbilical region, drawing 
the belly with spasmodic force toward the backbone. 
Free purging cures it. A dose of castor oil, or, say, 
two table-spoonfuls of castor oil, with a tea-spoonful 
of oil of turpentine, given in a little ginger tea, and 
repeated once in two hours until it operates. I fre- 



190 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

quently begin the treatment by giving an anodyne ; 
forty drops of laudanum, with a tea-spoonful of sul- 
phuric ether, in half a gill of water ; then, as soon as 
a little ease is produced, give the physic. If the first 
dose of anodyne does not relieve the pain, repeat it 
in one hour. If the stomach is irritable, a mustard 
plaster over it is proper. Fomentations with bitter 
herbs, hops, or smart-weed, over the bowels, relieve 
the pain and help the operation of physic. Emollient 
injections, made of boneset tea, milk and molasses, or 
castor oil added, or Castile soap and water, will be 
proper, and, when the physic is slow to operate, are 
necessary. The warm bath, also, may be used to 
advantage. When all the above fail to move the 
bowels, add a little tobacco to the injections and to 
the fomentations. 

I use my colic bitters successfully, both as a pre- 
ventive and curative. P. S. 

BILIOUS COLIC. 

In Bilious Colic, that irritation which produces 
colic pains seems to be occasioned by vitiated bile. 
Bilious Colic seems to depend on the same remote 
cause which produces Bilious Fever. It occurs in the 
same situations and at the same seasons with Bilious 
Fevers. The general appearance of the countenance 
and of the eyes is the same ; and it is preceded by 
the same feelings of general lassitude, weariness, head- 
ache, loss of appetite, and bitter taste in the mouth, 



painter's colic. 191 

thirst, nausea, and occasional vomiting. Relieve the 
irritation of the stomach, ease the pain, and evacuate 
the bowels, as directed under Common Colic ; then 
give quinine bitters once in three hours through the 
day, a blue pill at night, and two corrective pills the 
next morning. 

Painter's Colic, or Lead Colic, has for its remote 
cause the fumes of lead in some form or other ; gene- 
rally in mixing and using paints prepared with 
some form of lead. It generally comes on gradually, 
commencing with symptoms of deranged stomach, 
such as irregular and weak appetite, foul belchings 
of wind from the stomach, languor, slight nausea, cos- 
tiveness, with transient pains and a feeling of weight 
and tightness in the belly, a kind of drowsiness, with 
little inclination to think or to act. By degrees the 
pain in the stomach and bowels becomes more severe 
and constant, the abdomen is hard and drawn back, 
and, in some degree, tender to pressure, the bowels 
very torpid, and the stomach generally irritable ; the 
pain is more steady than in common colic, and very 
agonizing. In the treatment of this kind of colic, in 
addition to the anodynes and cathartics used in Com- 
mon Colic, I have found much help from a table- 
spoonful of unground mustard seed given three times 
a day in molasses ; I also give a tea-spoonful of sul- 
phur every day. P. S. 

It is not necessary that the various names given to 
Colic should be mentioned even in this work. Father 



192 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

has said enough already to enable any intelligent per- 
son to distinguish one variety from another, as much 
as is necessary for its intelligent treatment. 

There is a form of Colic called Colica Hepatica, or 
Liver Colic, consisting of pain in the region of the 
liver, chiefly about the gall bladder, caused by the 
passing of gall stones, or hardened bile, through the 
gall ducts. A description of this will be found under 
the head of " Gall Stones." 

The Painter's Colic, or colic caused by handling 
lead (those persons working in lead manufactories 
being even more likely to be subject to it than paint- 
ers), is nothing more nor less than colic, only we 
know the cause. It is less likely to yield to proper 
treatment than colic produced by some other cause. 
It will be found necessary to give more opium to 
relieve the pain ; do not fear to give large doses. If 
you are certain that it is caused by lead, or if the 
patient is working in lead and you know of no other 
cause, give one-third more opium or laudanum than 
in other cases ; repeat the dose once in an hour and a 
quarter until the patient is relieved. Apply the 
fomentations, and use the other means prescribed; 
but do not give physic in colic until the pain is 
relieved. Painter's Colic is very apt to be followed 
by palsy, and this should be guarded against, by 
giving the patient strychnine, as soon as the colic is 
relieved. Dissolve one grain of strychnine in sixteen 
tea-spoonfuls of water, and give a tea-spoonful three 



NEURALGIA. 193 

times per day, before each meal. Stop painting, or 
working in lead. If you have the second attack, and 
it severe, quit the business entirely. It is probable 
that the colic bitters, taken once a week, or in small 
doses every other day, would prevent Colic even in 
painters. 

TIC DOULOUREUX, NEURALGIA. 

This is a very painful affection, without fever, and 
may affect any part of the body where nerves exist. 
It more frequently affects one side of the face, and 
often the fore part of the head and over one eye. It 
is generally paroxysmal, and diurnal ; each paroxysm 
of pain lasting from four to twelve hours, then leaving 
the sufferer comparatively, and sometimes perfectly, 
easy. The pain is sometimes excruciating, even to 
distraction. Doubtless it generally proceeds from the 
same cause that produces Fever and Ague, and is 
cured by the same treatment. 

Case of Mrs. H- , of Hoosier Grove. — March 

1st, 1848, was called to see Mrs. Holden. Found her 
laboring under most excruciating pain in one side of 
her face ; a haggard and woe- worn countenance, of a 
sallow hue, and her tongue covered with a yellowish 
white and fuzzy fur. Her pain was paroxysmal,, 
coming on every forenoon, and lasting from four to 
six hours. She had been affected two or three weeks, 
and had been attended by a distinguished physician 
from St. Charles. He had endeavored to remove the- 
13 



194 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

malady with strong narcotics, stramonium, belladonna, 
etc. He was a resolute fellow, and bore on with a 
determination to succeed. He had succeeded in pro- 
ducing great irritability and soreness of the stomach ; 
she could take neither food nor medicine ; her stomach 
rejected every thing. She was, of course, very feeble 
and quite exhausted. Her bowels had not moved for 
three days. Ordered a mustard plaster over the 
stomach ; a scruple of magnesia in half a gill of milk 
and water once in two hours, when this is kept down, 
four corrective pills. After the physic operates, qui- 
nine bitters once in two hours, when the pain is off, 
and a Dover's powder once in four hours, when the 
pain is on ; corrective pills every other night. She 
was nearly cured in three days, and entirely well in 
five. P. S. 

NEUKALGIA. 

In the West, and more particularly when the 
country was new, this disease was frequently met 
with, and often was as badly treated as the case of 

Mrs. H , related above. Where it is evidently 

paroxysmal, coming on and going off at particular 
hours, it is evident that it is a " misplaced intermit- 
tent," and should be treated just the same as a case 
of chronic Fever and Ague. The quinine bitters 
should be taken in the same way. Keep the bowels 
open with corrective pills and rhubarb syrup, and, 
when the pain is on, take Dover's powder, adding, to 



PALSY. 195 

four grains of it, one-eighth of a grain of morphine. 
The only effect of this is to relieve the pain tempo- 
rarily; the quinine is what will effect a permanent 
cure, and that is certain, if persevered in, and the 
bowels at the same time kept regular. None of the 
remedies advertised as cures for Neuralgia, which are 
narcotics, will afford more than a temporary relief. 
If you wish a permanent cure, you must remove the 
cause, by a persistent course of quinine and laxatives, 
continued until the habit is broken and the general 
health perfectly restored. 

PALSY (PAEALYSIS) . 

Palsy consists in impaired or total want of volun- 
tary power of motion, or of sensation, or motion and 
sensation both. Not always attended with loss of 
consciousness. 

Different names have been given where different 
parts of the body have been affected ; but we will call 
palsy palsy, no matter what part of the body is 
affected thereby. 

It generally attacks one side of the body, yet it 
may affect the lower limbs, or the upper part of the 
body ; or all, or one or more of the vital organs. Vari- 
ous causes have been assigned, but it is probable that 
the real cause is unknown ; or that it is caused by one 
thing in one person, and by another thing in another. 
I had a patient about ten years ago that suddenly 
lost the sight of one eye from paralysis of the optic 



1.96 THE HOUSE WE LIVE LN". 

nerve (Amaurosis) ; in about a year one side of his 
body was completely palsied, and I was called imme- 
diately. He was over sixty years old, and I told the 
family that he probably would never recover the use 
of arm or leg either ; but under the treatment pursued 
he slowly recovered the use of his leg and partly of 
his arm. I believe this was caused by constipation 
of the bowels. I gave him rhubarb syrup to keep 
his bowels open, and strychnine as a tonic. Strych- 
nine, dissolved in water, one-sixteenth of a grain, 
three times per day as a dose. He is now alive and 
can walk about. Another case, a lady between fifty 
and sixty, of a nervous temperament, and never strong, 
but active and ambitious, was stricken, suddenly, by 
partial palsy of one side of the body. By degrees, 
under the strychnine treatment, she was restored com- 
pletely. In about one year she had another stroke ; 
the same treatment relieved her from this. In about 
six months she was taken suddenly with complete 
palsy of the stomach ; there was no action ; medicine 
was useless ; it had no effect whatever. She gradu- 
ally grew weaker, and died the third day. She was 
troubled for years with constipated bowels. I have 
never seen a case of palsy that was not preceded for 
years by constipated bowels. I believe that is the 
cause of a great majority o^ cases. The object of the 
treatment is to restore, if possible, action to the part; 
for this purpose use friction daily, brushing the part 
and using stimulating washes and liniments, keeping 



DIABETES. 197 

the bowels open with mild laxatives, and give tonics, 
such as cascarilla bitters, and quinine bitters, if the 
tongue is coated, until it is clean, and persisting in 
giving the strychnine in doses of one-sixteenth of a 
grain, which may be increased after a few days until 
one-eighth of a grain is taken at a dose. 

DIABETES 

Is an excessive discharge of morbid urine. This dis- 
ease is by authors divided into several varieties. That 
kind in which sugar is contained in the urine, is called 
Diabetes Mellitus. The disease usually affects broken 
constitutions, and is connected with various indica- 
tions of disease of the general health, such as disor- 
dered digestion, variable appetite, general debility, 
and depraved secretions. Diabetes, especially the 
worst varieties, are seldom entirely cured, though 
most cases, by proper treatment, may be relieved, 
and life considerably prolonged. I have treated Dia- 
betes Mellitus in the following manner, with decided 
benefits; and in the case given below the diabetic 
symptoms were completely removed, and the patient 
enjoyed comfortable health a number of years. 

I. S. came into Westmoreland, Oneida County, New 
York, when he was a young man, and the country 
was covered with heavy timber. He was a hardy 
and very industrious man, laboring early and late, 
and even day and night. He retained his health and 
vigor, and his excessive industrious habits, until he 



198 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN". 

was about sixty-seven years old, and had by bis 
industry accumulated considerable property, and was 
a wealthy farmer. He was taken with Diabetes 
Mellitus, discharging frequently two gallons of water 
during the night, so imbued with sugar that where 
drops spattered and dried, grains of sugar would be 
left. His health and vigor failed fast. He viewed 
his approaching end with alarm, and was completely 
unmanned. He was attached to the world; had 
lived for the world. Honest with all men, and a 
good friend of mine, I prescribed for him with a 
good deal of anxiety, and a strong desire to help him, 
as follows : Rhubarb and magnesia, equal parts, were 
given every morning when the bowels had not moved 
freely within twenty -four hours ; from six to eight 
grains of Dover's powder, with a scruple of pulverized 
uva ursi was given every night at bed time; thirty 
drops of laudanum, in a gill of lime water, was given 
three times a day before meals ; thorough brushing 
with a flesh brush, and flannel worn next the skin 
were recommended ; and beef steak and an almost 
exclusively animal diet was enjoined. Those varieties 
of Diabetes which contain no sugar are called Dia- 
betes Insipidus. Of this there are several varieties. 
One variety has milky urine, being mixed with chyle, 
which is the food prepared by digestion to be absorbed 
into the system for its nourishment. This variety of 
Diabetes is much less dangerous than the Diabetes 
Mellitus, and is often easily cured by the treatment 



PALPITATION. 199 

recommended for this. One variety of Diabetes Insi- 
pidus has an excess in the urine of a salt called urea. 
This may be known by a deposit of reddish sediment, 
called the brick dust sediment, in the urine after stand- 
ing a few hours. Tonics, with opium, and alkalies, 
are the proper remedies for this variety. Keep the 
bowels open with rhubarb and magnesia ; quinine or 
cascarilla bitters three times a day before meals ; 
twenty grains of bicarbonate of soda, or a gill of lime 
water, three times a day, an hour after meals, and a 
Dover's powder at bed time. Another variety has 
an excess of phosphatic salts in the urine, known by 
a deposit of white powder. This variety, with acids 
instead of alkalies ; keep the bowels open with rhu- 
barb and cream of tartar ; quinine bitters three times 
a day before meals ; twenty drops of dilute nitric acid 
three times a day, half an hour after meal ; aud a 
Dover's powder, with an equal bulk of cream tartar, 
at bed time. p # g # 

PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 

This affection is so common, and is produced so 
frequently, and from such slight and common causes, 
and so often passes off without any ill consequences 
or permanent harm, that we would naturally think it 
would not be likely to cause much alarm or anxiety ; 
yet as every organic disease of the heart produces 
Palpitation of the Heart, and as this is generally 
understood by all nervous invalids, such persons are 



200 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

apt to fear they have an organic affection of the 
heart, and that has a tendency to produce or continue h 
or increase the palpitation ; whereas, not one case in 
ten of Palpitation of the Heart, by my observation, 
is symptomatic of organic affection of the heart, or 
occasioned by it. 

Palpitation is an unequal beating of the heart, and 
is occasioned by any thing that disturbs its regular 
and equal beat. The blood should flow steadily and 
equably through the heart. Any thing that diminishes 
or increases this regular now produces a jar. Sudden 
exertion, leaping or running ; sudden fright will pro- 
duce it ; a torpid liver produces it. When there is 
any disease of the general health, causing debility, 
and producing derangement in all the functions of 
life, the nervous fluid is irregularly furnished to the 
heart, and its action is disturbed. Overloading the 
stomach, improper food, irregular meals, laborious 
digestion with a weak stomach, produce palpitation. 
The remedy is to restore the general health ; for treat- 
ment of which, see Diseases of the General Health. 
Regular meals, suitable diet, exercise and rest. Tinc- 
ture of colchicum seeds, twenty to forty drops, when 
the symptoms are bad. Tincture of valarian some- 
times is good. P. S. 



CHAPTER X. 



DIARRHCEA. 



Diarrhoea consists of frequent, and, generally, copious 
discharges from the bowels. The causes of this are 
very various, and the effects may be produced either 
by the irritating nature of the contents of the bowels, 
or by the irritable condition of the mucous membrane, 
which is the inner coat of the bowels. Sympathetic 
diarrhoea seems to be an effort of nature to throw off 
some offending matter, or to counteract some baneful 
influence ; as when one has taken some indigestible 
food, improper in quantity or quality, diarrhoea often 
supervenes to throw it off; or, when a child has been 
hurt on the head, or is cutting teeth, diarrhoea sets 
in, and is nature's effort to throw off or counteract 
the irritation or the injury. This kind of diarrhoea is 
attended with increased discharge of bile, is meant by 
nature to be salutary, and should not be checked too 
suddenly. First, give physic, magnesia and rhubarb, 
or castor oil with paregoric. After the physic has 
operated, if the diarrhoea continues, give paregoric 
and soda. To an ounce of paregoric, add an equal 
quantity of water, a tea-spoonful of soda (bicarb.), and 
a table-spoonful of loaf sugar. To a child, four years 



202 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 

of age, give a tea-spoonful every time the bowels 
move, if they move oftener than once in twelve hours. 
As long as the complaint continues the physic should 
be given once in two days. This is the most common 
diarrhoea of children in the summer, and is readily 
cured with the above treatment, unless it is occasioned 
by some permanent irritation. Then we should not 
aim to stop it entirely, but to check it and keep it 
within proper bounds. A much worse kind of diar- 
rhoea is that in which no bile is discharged ; but the 
evacuations are clay-colored, or white, and frothy, 
sometimes thin and almost colorless as water, or a 
little milky, or like rice water. This should be 
treated like Cholera Infantum. P. S. 

Case of Chronic Diarrhoea. — Mrs. P , an Eng- 
lish lady of genteel and respectable appearance, was 
brought to me from Aurora, twenty-four miles dis- 
tant, on the twenty-third day of October, 1853. She 
was about thirty years of age, possessed a constitution 
rather delicate, a sanguine temperament, and consid- 
erable energy of character, as was evinced by her 
venturing so far to see a physician in her extremely 
debilitated condition. She was very much emaciated, 
pale, with a bright red spot on one of her cheeks, 
hurried and laborious breathing on the least exercise, 
and with a small, fluttering and feeble pulse of a 
hundred and forty or hundred and fifty strokes in a 
minute. She had Chronic Diarrhoea. She stated 
that she had been afflicted with this disease since 



DIAKKHCEA. 203 

last May. She was taken on her voyage from Eng- 
land. She had tried many physicians without relief. 
The discharge from the bowels was white or clay- 
colored, and frothy, watery or milky, and frequently 
mixed with undigested food. Appetite variable, 
mostly deficient, with more or less distress in the 
stomach after meals, attended with increased circu- 
lation. 

She obtained a boarding place two miles from me, 
with a kind family accustomed to nurse and care for 
the sick. 

Prescribed diarrhoea pills, each pill containing sul- 
phate of copper, one-third of a grain, and opium, one- 
half of a grain, one to be taken, three times a day, 
an hour after meals, with quinine bitters as follows : 
Quinine, thirty grains, loaf sugar, four ounces, brandy, 
one gill, laudanum, two drachms, water, three gills, a 
table-spoonful once in three hours through the day. 
Diet light, nourishing, and taken five times a day, 
immediately after the bitters, as follows : Bitters at 
six A. M., cream toast and tea ; bitters at nine A. M., 
beefsteak, and so on ; bitters once in three hours, 
followed immediately, one-half the time, with some 
animal food, the other half with some light farina- 
ceous food. 

October twenty-fifth. — Patient encouraged, less 
pain, bears food better; continue treatment, sponge 
the body with strong salt water, wiped off with a 
coarse towel. 



204 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN a 

Twenty-eighth. — Treatment continued. 

Thirtieth. — Discharges less frequent, but still not 
much changed in quality; ordered a liver pill at 
night, and two corrective pills the next morning ; all 
the other treatment continued as before. 

Thirty-first. — Continued treatment ; the bile started 
a little; directed a liniment rubbed in thoroughly 
over the right side; spirits camphor, two ounces, 
laudanum, one ounce, spirits ammonia, one ounce, oil 
oreganom, one drachm. 

November second.* — Patient is improving every 
way ; discharges more bilious, and occasionally dark- 
colored; appetite improves; irritative fever dimin- 
ishes ; take the liver pills every other night ; continue 
the other treatment. 

Fifth. — Continues to improve; take the quinine 
bitters three times per day, morning, noon, and night, 
before meals, and the diarrhoea pill once a day, an 
hour after supper. 

Seventh. — Continue treatment; patient improving. 

Sixteenth — The improvement continues ; omit the 
liver pill and the quinine bitters ; take cascarilla bit- 
ters, with one ounce of uva ursi added to the regular 
quantity, two table-spoonfuls three times daily before 
meals ; take corrective pills every other night, enough 
to move the bowels if they have not moved freely 
themselves; from two to live pills. 

Twenty-third. — Patient improving fast; continue 
treatment. The man of the house where she is board- 



DIAKKHGEA. 205 

ing lias killed twelve quails at one shot, and she has 
prepared a quail pie, in good English fashion, to treat 
me at this visit. 

Twenty-eighth. — Visited my patient, found her in 
good spirits, preparing to return home ; dismissed her 
with our mutual blessings and good wishes, and with 
a bottle of cascarilla bitters, and a box of corrective 
pills. The cure was complete and permanent. 

P. S. 

I have had many cases, during and since the war, of 
Chronic or Compound Diarrhoea, many of them good 
physicians had prescribed for, without the least benefit. 
It is wonderful that so few good army surgeons and 
physicians understand the true theory of this disease. 
There is no bile in the secretions, consequently in 
flie discharges, and mercury, blue pill, etc., etc., are 
prescribed ; the patient grows worse ; they are aston- 
ished; astringents and opiates are prescribed; they 
afford temporary relief; but still the patient grows 
worse and worse, weaker and weaker, the bowels 
become ulcerated, the feet and legs swell, and, after 
a lingering death, they are finally relieved from their 
sufferings, but not until they have waited and prayed 
for even this relief from their sufferings. Who can 
not see that thousands and hundreds of thousands of 
our brave and patriotic boys, who never quailed amid 
the din of battle and the clash of arms, have fallen 
victims, not to diarrhoea, but to the scientific igno- 
rance of the faculty and the dignity of the medical 



206 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

profession. The bile must be started ; mercury will 
do it ; it is given and repeated, again and again, with- 
out any effect other than to reduce the poor victim 
lower and lower. I give in these cases, if they have 
a cough, the "Alterative Tonic and Expectorant 
Syrup;" the diarrhoea pills, of blue vitriol and opium, 
one or twice a day ; a pill of beef's gall and opium, 
about one grain of opium to two of beef's gall ; cas- 
carilla bitters, with the uva ursi; and quinine bitters, 
if there is brown coat on the tongue, and fever, or if 
the patient has been much in the malarious districts 
of the South and West. 

I have never failed to effect a cure. 

ASIATIC CHOLERA. 

This terrible disease first appeared in the United 
States in the summer of 1832. It had been about a 
year making its way from Asia through Europe to 
this country. In the month of August it was making 
frightful havoc in the city of Utica, New York. Sev- 
eral physicians, with myself, visited the place to learn 
the character of this new disease. After calling, in 
company with a physician of the place, on several 
patients in different stages of the malady, we went 
to the hospital and found one just dead of the disease, 
who had been taken that morning after breakfast 
in a most violent form. This body we dissected 
thoroughly, and found the fluid part of the blood, and 
all the fluids in the body, completely drained out. 



ASIATIC CHOLEEA. 207 

That which was left of the blood was only the solid 
part, which appeared in the veins in black specks. 
The secretory organs were entirely locked up. The 
gall bladder and the urinary bladder were empty, 
and very much contracted and corrugated. From 
these appearances, and from what I had seen of the 
symptoms, I was impressed with the belief, that the 
first step in the progress of the disease is a diminution 
of nervous energy. The next step is the inverted 
action of the lacteals, by which the fluids that exist 
in the blood, and have been conveyed to it from the 
stomach and bowels, are, by their inverted action, 
returned to the stomach and bowels and ejected from 
the body. This produces a state of depletion ; deple- 
tion produces the spasms, as an animal bled to death 
goes into spasms from the loss of blood. The chyle 
is a white, milky fluid, prepared from the food by 
digestion, for the nourishment of the body. The 
lacteals are numerous small vessels which convey this 
fluid to the circulating system. The discharges from 
the body in cholera have, in part, the appearance of 
chyle, or chyle mixed with lymph and the serous part 
of the blood. Whether the cause of the diminution 
of nervous energy is a subtile, deleterious fluid elimi- 
nated from the earth or water, or whether it is a 
contagion, conveyed by ships from the old world, or 
whatever its origin, it is very certain that it is much 
increased in violence and destructive energy by any 
thing that debilitates the system, or causes an expendi- 



208 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ture of sensorial power. Fear, anxiety, dread, grief, 
foul air, irregular or unwholesome diet, intemperance 
of all kinds, and hardships of every sort, enhance its 
power, or excite its action. 

Treatment.— -In the treatment of Cholera we have 
to stop the fatal discharges, to equalize the circula- 
tion, to start the secretions, and to counteract the 
inverted actions. The treatment which I adopted at 
first, and which I have found most successful, com- 
bined the above purposes. If I found the patient 
vomiting and purging, with frequent spasms, I would 
say to him, " Don't be frightened, dear Sir, I shall 
help you, I think." Then say to the attendants 
" Warm his feet and legs, give them a thorough rub- 
bing, one of you, another get something warm to his 
feet, bottles of warm water, or hot bricks at his ft-et 
and between his legs, or hot cloths constantly heated 
and frequently changed ; put a mustard plaster over 
his stomach and bowels ; give him a powder, contain- 
ing five grains of pulverized camphor, two grains of 
pulverized opium, and fifteen grains of calomel. If 
he vomits this give him another immediately." This 
treatment I have found successful to arrest the dis- 
ease. But Cholera generally makes its attacks with 
the premonitory symptoms of diarrhoea, when it may 
be arrested with milder treatment. I give below the 
treatment prepared for another work, and embracing 
also cases of collapse and of convalesence : 

"When Cholera prevails in a place it makes its 



ASIATIC CHOLEEA. 209 

attacks generally, but not always, with a diarrhoea, 
with discharges thin and like rice water. This is apt 
to be neglected ; but it is Cholera, and full of danger. 
Lie down immediately ; keep still and keep warm, 
especially the feet ; be not alarmed ; you are not in 
danger if you follow the directions. 

"Take thirty drops of No. 1 on a lump of sugar. 
If the diarrhoea is checked, continue to take the dimin- 
ished doses once in four hours; twenty-five drops, 
twenty, fifteen, ten, nine, eight, seven. Be careful of 
your diet, do not drink large draughts of cold water ; 
you are cured. 

"If the first dose does not check the diarrhoea, 
repeat the medicine every time the bowels move, 
increasing five drops every time. This will generally 
stop the discharge. But if it should fail, prepare a 
quantity of starch, as if for starching linen, and, to> 
two table-spoonfuls, add forty or fifty drops of laud- 
anum, for an injection every time the bowels move,, 
continuing the drops as above directed. 

" But when the attack is more violent, and there 
is vomiting and purging, and sometimes cramps and 
colic pains, No. 2 is then indicated, and should be 
taken in does of from thirty to forty-five drops, in a 
little sweetened water, or a little weak brandy and 
water, every hour, or every half hour if the case is 
rapid and urgent. If the first dose should be thrown 
up, another dose should be ready to give as soon as 
the vomiting and the spasm of the stomach attending 
14 



210 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN\ 

it ceases. Mustard poultices should now be applied 
to the pit of the stomach and kept there until the 
surface is well reddened. 

" When the extremities grow cold, and the surface 
is becoming blue, with a deep-sunken eye and a failing 
pulse, the collapse is approaching. Do not abandon 
the patient; thousands have been saved from this 
condition. In addition to No. 2, brandy must be 
given, from half to a whole table-spoonful, every half 
hour ; or in extreme cases every fifteen minutes, until 
the pulse is improved and the natural heat restored. 
Alcohol or other spirits will answer the purpose if 
brandy can not be had. In connection with this heat 
must be applied with a great deal of friction. Bot- 
tles of hot water are recommended. When a com- 
petent number of assistants were at hand, I have 
generally used dry, hot cloths, changing them fre- 
quently. While one is heating the cloths another is 
changing them, and another assiduously applying 
the friction, to the limbs especially, also over the 
bowels and back, where the skin is not made too 
tender with the mustard poultices. These I apply 
strong to the stomach and bowels, calves of the legs, 
hands and feet. I have also sometimes used, and 
apparently with good effect, a liniment made of equal 
parts of spirits of ammonia and spirits of turpentine, 
shaken together, and thoroughly rubbed in over the 
whole length of the spine. 

" Great thirst prevails and produces much suffering. 



ASIATIC CHOLERA. 211 

The patient begs hard for cold water. He must not 
have it, except to wash his mouth, and gargle in his 
throat. A tea-spoonful of gum arabic water, or slip- 
pery elm water, or burn crust water, may be given 
often; when the sufferings are intense, every ixve 
minutes. 

' After a severe attack a typhoid state of fever 
generally exists for a few days. It is not dangerous, 
and subsides in a few days with mild diaphoretics 
and gentle stimulants. The diet should be very sim- 
ple, but nutritious in some degree, for a few days, and 
during convalesence ; rice water, arrow root tea, 
chicken tea, or beef tea made weak, with a little rice 
boiled in it, should be given in small quantities, and 
frequently. P. S." 

No. 1, for Cholera: — IJ, Laudanum, 1 oz. 

Spirits Camphor, 1 oz. 
Tinct. Rhubarb, 2 oz. 

No. 2, for Cholera: — ]£ Laudanum, 1 oz. 

Tinct. Capsicum, 1 oz. 

Tinct. Ginger, 1 oz. 

Tinct. Cardamon Seeds, 1 oz. 

In a correspondence I had this spring with Dr. D. 
Delaney, of Solon Mills, McHenry county, Ills., he 
says : a The preparation I use for Cholera, I got 
from a Thompsonian doctor in Ohio, upwards of 
thirty years ago, when the Cholera first appeared in 
the rural districts of that State. He used it for 



212 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Cholera Morbus, and thought he cured a case or two 
of Cholera with it : 

" $ Vinegar half a pint, salt a table-spoonful, capsicum a 
table-spoonful ; mix. As often as the stomach settles, give a 
table-spoonful. Two or three spoonfuls, kept down, will 
generally operate as physic. 

" I have given this, in Cholera, with invariable suc- 
cess, in all its stages, from the first attack down to 
the stage of a collapse. I repeat the dose in from ten 
to thirty minutes, according to the urgency of the 
case, until it operates as a cathartic, which will be 
known by the burning sensation when it passes away ; 
when this is felt, the disease is overcome. In some 
few cases, I have had some trouble to get a regular 
discharge from the bowels after it, but no Cholera 
ever followed." 

Dr. D. also gives some interesting cases where he 
succeeded with this remedy. I have heard of it before, 
but never tried it. It has the advantage of being at 
hand in every family, and could be used immediately, 
before a doctor or other medicine could be procured. 
When Cholera prevails, every family and person 
should be prepared with medicine ever ready ; take 
it with them if they go from home, and, when the 
first diarrhoea appears, lie down, take the medicine, 
use the mustard and external applications, and not 
stir until cured. In this way Cholera can be stopped, 
any where, upon its first appearance. In the cases 
that I have had, I have used the treatment prescribed 



CHOLERA MORBUS. 213 

by father. In one day I lost four cases out of nine, 
but they were all in a dying state before I saw them. 

CHOLERA MORBUS. 

This disease generally commences with pain in the 
stomach and bowels, which very soon becomes severe, 
also sickness of the stomach ; in a short time vomit- 
ing commences, which is soon succeeded by violent 
purging, although the purging may commence before 
the vomiting, or the vomiting may commence before the 
pain. As the disease increases, the pain, which comes 
on in paroxysms, becomes very severe, and feels like 
the cutting of a knife. If the disease continues to 
increase for two or three hours, the legs and arms 
sometimes cramp violently. The discharges from the 
bowels are dark colored, contain bile, and smell offen- 
sively. In Cholera there is little or no actual pain, 
the discharges from the bowels are like water, or rice 
water, and without smell. You need never mistake 
these diseases, if you remember these simple directions. 

Treatment. — The first thing to do is to see that 
the feet, legs and hands are warm, and keep them so ; 
next, put a strong mustard plaster over the stomach ; 
then (if an adult) put one-fourth of a grain of mor- 
phine upon the roots of the tongue, repeat this once 
an hour, until the pain and vomiting have ceased 
(which will generally be within from two to six 
hours) ; give no drink of any sort, not a drop, until 



214 THE HOUSE WE LIVE ET. 

the sickness is gone, then give a little chicken tea 
every few minutes ; let the patient take cold water to 
wet the mouth, as often as desired, provided none is 
swallowed. In six or eight hours after the pain and 
vomiting have ceased, give a mild laxative, and the 
cure is complete. Eat and drink light for a few days. 



CHAPTEK XL 



BUENS &KD SCALDS, 



These accidents are common in every family; few 
children arrive at the age of man or womanhood 
without being burned more or less severely. There 
are about as many different remedies as there are 
articles of medicine in the Materia Medica. I think 
I have seen more foolish prescriptions for burns than 
any other trouble ; and I know several persons that 
have been maimed, and others that will carry terrible 
looking scars for life, that might have been avoided 
had the right thing been done. 

These various remedies are used with the idea that 
they " take out the fire." The fire is nothing more 
or less than a sudden acute inflammation, which is 
more or less severe according to the amount and 
length of time the heat has been in contact with the 
burned part. There is nothing so good for a burn 
or scald, when it first happens, as cold water. You 
might prepare two vessels, fill one with scalding hot 
water, and the other with cold water, and dip your 
bare arm to the elbow quickly in the scalding water, 
withdraw it immediately and immerse it in the cold 
water without the least harm. The quicker cold 



216 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IK. 

water can be applied to the burnt part the better ; 
but where there is much clothing oyer the part it will 
be impossible to apply the cold water quick enough 
so that it will penetrate to the burn before the hot 
steam or water has produced some effect, and gener- 
ally not before it will blister. About two years ago, 
our little daughter, then about two years old, pulled 
over a large coffee boiler full of boiling hot coffee, in 
such a manner that both ankles and feet were com- 
pletely soaked with the boiling fluid. She ran scream- 
ing across the kitchen, through the hall, into the room 
where her mother and myself were. I saw what had 
happened, and threw a wash bowl of cold water imme- 
diately upon her feet, then filled the bowl again and 
put her feet into it. In the meantime her mother 
was taking off her shoes and stockings. One shoe 
was not tied, and that foot did not blister, but the 
other foot was blistered on the instep where it was 
girthed with the shoe strings. The burned parts 
should be kept immersed in cold water, or several 
thicknesses of cloth, constantly wet in cold water, 
should be kept upon the parts until the pain ceases 
or " the fire is out." A little spirits added to the 
water will be better, as it will keep cold longer in 
consequence of the more rapid evaporation. It is 
important to keep the air from the burn as much 
.as possible. After it is no longer necessary to con- 
tinue the cold applications, cotton or linen lint, com- 
pletely soaked in linseed or olive oil, should be applied, 



BUKNS AND SCALDS. 217 

so as to completely cover the parts and exclude the 
air, once a day or oftener ; if the sore discharges much 
it should be washed with Castile soap and soft water. 
If the fingers or toes are burned, each one should be 
done up by itself, or they might grow together. 
Care should also be taken when the burn is on the 
neck to keep the head back, or the muscles may be so 
contracted that ever after the head can not be carried 
erect. The same caution should be exercised when 
the burn is behind the ears. When the burn is so 
severe, or so great a portion of the body is burned, 
that the patient becomes insensible, and the pulse is 
weak and low, stimulants should be administered 
until a reaction takes place in the system, and in no 
case should any physic be given until such reaction 
has been established. But when a burn is so severe 
as to produce this state of the system, a good physi- 
cian should be called and his directions followed. 

As long as life remains our efforts to alleviate dis- 
tress should not cease. There is very little hope of 
a favorable issue when the symptoms last described 
are present. 

Our good dames, and other benevolent observers, 
have certain cures for burns, or some applications, 
the very best, in their own opinion. I recollect, when 
I was a young physician, I was called to go four miles, 
as soon as possible, to see a child that was very badly 
scalded, and was stopped three times on the road by 
anxious and knowing matrons to tell me what to apply 



218 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

the very first thing, each one knowing positively that 
her prescription was the best that could be ; she had 
tried it over and over again in her own family, and with 
others. One prescription was spirits of turpentine ; 
another, scraped potato; and a third, linseed oil. 
Now, any of these things would be very good in 
certain conditions; but in my case I had not the 
opportunity to test them, for the child was dead when 
I arrived. I was taught to treat burns on the same 
principle as other injuries and ailments. If it is 
burnt to inflammation, treat it as inflammation. If 
it is burnt to produce death of the part, treat it as 
local mortification. If the inflammation produces 
suppuration, treat it like a running sore. I have 
always practiced in this way, and have succeeded to 
my satisfaction. As soon as a burn or scald is received, 
apply cold, wet things, and keep the burn covered 
from the air. If spirits are at hand mix one-third 
spirits and two-thirds water, wet a cloth and cover 
the burn ; keep it wet by applying the liquid with a 
sponge or cloth ; do not uncover it ; keep it wet until 
the pain and smarting ceases, that is, until the inflam- 
mation is subdued, or, as they say, " the fire is out." 
Don't wait for the spirits, but apply water till you 
get spirits. Then dip cloths or cotton batting in 
linseed or sweet oil and apply them, changing before 
they become dry. If inflammation rises, renew the 
wet cloths for a time. Lead plaster and sweet oil, 



BURSTS AND SCALDS. 219 

equal parts melted together, make a good cerate to 
dress the sores. If there should be much inflamma- 
tion, physic with salts, or salts and magnesia are 
proper P. S. 



CHAPTER XII 

EXANTHEMATA DISEASES OF THE SKTN. 

This includes all diseases of the skin ; but we are now 
to consider those common and minor affections of the 
skin, which are, we think, without much advantage 
in treatment, split up by curious scientific men into 
many varieties. Such are known by people gene- 
rally as Shingles, Ringworm, Nettle-rash, Salt-rheum, 
Scald-head, Itch, Prairie Itch, or Illinois Mange. 
Many of these diseases are the effect of marsh effluvia, 
and perhaps all, except the Itch, which is contagious, 
and perhaps, also, Nettle-rash, which seems to arise 
from irritation of the stomach. The following is my 
treatment for all the above diseases : First wash the 
sores, especially if they discharge any kind of matter, 
in soap-suds made of Castile soap and soft water, then 
wet them with the alterative wash No. 3 ; wait a few 
minutes until dry, then smear them over with altera- 
tive ointment No. 1 ; dress the sores in this way once 
a day, and, in the mean time, take an alterative 
powder, every other night, and quinine bitters three 
times a day. Shingles, Nettle-rash and Prairie Itch 
require the whole of the above treatment ; for the 
Ringworm, Salt-rheum, and Itch, the alterative pow- 



MEASLES. 221 

der and the quinine may be omitted, if the general 
health is otherwise right ; and for the Itch, sulphur 
and cream-of-tartar may be substituted for the altera- 
tive powder. P. S. 

By referring to the recipes in this work, all the 
medicines mentioned above will be found. In any 
of these diseases, where there is a brown or yellow 
fur on the tongue, it will be necessary, in order to 
effect a cure, to give freely, for one, two, or three 
weeks, the quinine bitters, and they should be given 
from the commencement of the treatment. I give 
iodide of potassium for an alterative in these diseases, 
in place of the " alterative powder" mentioned above. 
This treatment will be found efficient for Itch, 
Scald-head, and all diseases of the skin. 

S. P. S. 

MEASLES. 

This is a contagious disease, not generally dangei 
ous ; seldom, if ever, affects a person but once during 
life. The length of time from receiving the infectioi 
to the manifestation of the symptoms, varies from irve 
days to three weeks, but commonly from nine days 
to a fortnight. The first symptoms are like those of 
common catarrh, or a bad cold ; a dull, heavy pain in 
the head, cough, with discharge from the nose and 
eyes, with frequent chills, followed or alternating with 
some fever. These symptoms continue and increase 
with more or less severity, for three or four days, 



222 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

when the eruption begins to appear. Its effects may 
at first be seen in the throat and roof of the mouth, 
which shows a redness, with a pimpled appearance. 
The eruption first commences on the face and neck, 
and extends down over the breast and body, first in 
red pimples, these soon collecting in small, semi- 
lunar patches, leaving small spaces of smooth, natural 
skin. This appearance is one mark which distin- 
guishes Measles from Scarlet Fever, in which disease 
the skin is wholly and equally covered with the red- 
ness or rash. The eruption in the measles continues 
to extend down until it reaches and covers the 
extremities. It then begins to recede from the face, 
and we say the Measles have turned ; then should be 
taken physic, Epsom salts and magnesia. When the 
Measles take the simple, regular and most common 
course, very little medical treatment is required. The 
patient should be kept within doors, and in a room 
of equal warmth. Changes from heat to cold should 
be avoided. Light diaphoretic drafts of some open- 
ing tea, such as sage, catnip, or pennyroyal, may be 
proper ; and if the eruption seems to be slow in com- 
ing out, a Dover's powder with the warm tea after 
it, and the feet kept warm, will be proper. If the 
cough is troublesome, some mucilaginous drink, gum 
arabic, slippery elm, or flaxseed tea, sweetened with 
honey, and given frequently, is good. If any other 
disease, inflammation of the lungs, or head, or fever of 



MEASLES. 223 

any variety, supervenes, it must be treated as directed 
under those diseases. P. S. 

SEQUEL OF MEASLES. 

Case. — R. D , a young man, about eighteen 

years old, the son of a widow, was brought home to 
his mother, in the month of February, to die of con- 
sumption. He had been absent from home about a 
year, living with his uncle, fourteen miles from his 
mother. Ten months before his return to his mother 
he had the measles, and they left him with a cough, 
from taking cold probably. He was brought home 
on a bed, with a sled. I happened to be in the 
neighborhood, and was called in to see him. His 
mother told me she had no hopes of his recovery ; 
his physicians had all pronounced him in the last 
stage of consumption ; but she thought possibly some- 
thing might be done to palliate the distressing symp- 
toms, as he had much pain in his side, and coughed 
and raised dreadfully. He was in a feeble state, not 
able to sit up, much emaciated, with hectic fever, and 
profuse night sweats. I had no medicine for a cough 
with me, but observing a bundle of boneset (eupato- 
rium perfoliatum) hanging up in the room, I directed 
them to make a strong tea of that, and add an equal 
part of best molasses or syrup, and give him a table- 
spoonful once in two hours through the day ; directed 
him to take three corrective pills every other night, 
and gave him some antimonial ointment, and directed 



224 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

him to rub it in over the chest and affected side, four 
or five times a day, until eruptions were brought out, 
and then continue it between the sores, once a day, 
rubbing in at each time a quantity of the size of a 
large pea. He was about five miles from my resi- 
dence. I informed them I should be in the neigh- 
borhood in about a week, would have some medicine 
suitable for him, and would call and see him. I 
called accordingly in about a week, and found him 
very much improved. I left him no more medicine, 
and gave him no new directions, but told him to con- 
tinue the treatment. In a few weeks he was able to 
be about in the neighborhood, and through the sum- 
mer was well and able to do a good man's work. 

P. S. 

EOSEOLA. 

This disease so strongly resembles Measles that it 
has frequently been mistaken for it. It generally 
comes on more suddenly, and is not attended with 
so strongly marked febrile and catarrhal symptoms ; 
neither is it considered contagious, and generally 
makes its appearance when there are no Measles in 
the neighborhood, or at least is as likely to appear 
then as at any other time. The skin is not of so deep 
a red color, nor are the blotches so much raised above 
the natural surface of the skin as they are in Measles. 

The treatment is of the most simple nature. Keep 
the patient warm in bed, give plenty of warm drinks. 



SMALL POX. 225 

and, when the redness has nearly disappeared, give 
a gentle cathartic. It will not continue more than 
two or three days, nor is it attended with any dan- 
ger, if the least care is taken of the patient. 

SMALL POX (VARIOLA) 

Is principally divided into distinct and confluent. In 
the distinct the pocks are separate from each other. 
In the confluent they unite or run together. Distinct 
small pox is comparatively a mild disease. It pro- 
ceeds from specific contagion, derived from some one 
affected with the disease, and may be conveyed 
through the atmosphere, or by its adhesion to clothes 
it may be communicated to others. The poison gen- 
erally remains in the system ten or twelve days, 
sometimes less and sometimes more, before it pro- 
duces its effects. These are similar to common 
attacks of fever. First, shivering, soon followed by 
thirst, restlessness, anxiety, pain in the head, back, 
and joints ; nausea is always felt, vomiting frequently 
occurs, and pain at the pit of the stomach. Children 
appear dull and sleepy, and sometimes have convul- 
sive fits, which is not a dangerous symptom. On the 
third day from the commencement of the shivering 
the eruption takes place in small, red spots, like flea 
bites, commencing on the forehead and face, and 
extending in a day or two over the whole body, the 
legs and feet are the last affected. These red points,. 
15 



226 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

in which the eruption first appears, on the second day 
become enlarged at the base, and feel hard to the 
touch. On the third day the pock appears with a 
depression in the middle, and containing a limpid or 
watery fluid. These pocks are now about the size of 
a small pea. On the sixth day from the commence- 
ment of the eruption the fluid in the pock becomes 
yellow, and is pus, like the matter of a sore. On the 
following day the pock breaks, and on the next day 
after the scabbing commences. The scabs fall off in 
six or seven days from their formation. This is the 
course of the distinct small pox. The fever abates 
when the eruption appears, but a secondary fever 
takes place when the pocks are ripened. The small 
pox becomes confluent in consequence of some de- 
praved excitement or inflammatory state of the 
system. And it may become malignant or putrid, 
if the system is already imbued with malaria, or any 
of those causes which tend to produce malignant dis- 
eases. In the confluent form of small pox the fever 
is very severe. The symptoms which attend the dis- 
tinct variety appear in a more intense degree. The 
eruption is much more profuse. The vesicles are 
filled with a brownish fluid, they never rise up dis- 
tinctly, but run into each other. The face and head 
swells, the eyes are closed, the limbs swell, and in the 
malignant variety all the symptoms of putrid typhus 
fever exists. In the treatment of small pox we should 
be governed by the variety of fever which exists, and 



SMALL POX. . 227 

treat it accordingly. The distinct form is not gener- 
ally a dangerous disease. It must have its course, 
and pass through its natural stages. Keep the 
patient in a cool, well-ventilated room, give cooling 
drinks, such as effervescing drafts of soda and tartaric 
or citric acid, solution of cream of tartar, or lemonade, 
and occasionally twenty drops of spirits of nitre in 
some of the drinks. If any untoward symptoms, or 
inflammation of any particular part takes place, it 
must be treated on general principles. To prevent 
scars, or what is called pock break, the face must be 
covered, from the first commencement of the eruption, 
with a cloth wet with milk and water, a little tepid. 
If the patient is restless, or much feverish, give a 
Dover's powder. In the confluent kind, if the fever 
is typhoid, treat it as typhoid fever ; if it is typhus, 
treat it as typhus fever, with quinine bitters and 
Dover's powder, as the symptoms require. Move the 
bowels, once in two days, with magnesia and salts, or 
magnesia and rhubarb. When one has been exposed 
to small pox, he should prepare for it by taking some 
cooling physic, and living on a mild milk and vege- 
table diet. P. S. 

MODIFIED SMALL POX. 

This disease closely resembles small pox, and is 
confined to those who have been vaccinated. It is 
generally less severe. The treatment is the same as 
for the genuine small pox. 



228 THE HOUSE WE LIVE ES". 



COW POX. 



This is a disease which affects cows, and is taken 
from the cow by persons when milking, if they hap- 
pen to have any abrasion of the skin, crack, or sore 
upon the hands. 

This is a good protection against small pox, if 
the operation is genuine. If where a person is 
vaccinated the resulting inflammation is extensive, 
with severe fever, and leaving a large, ugly-looking 
scar, it is spurious. If the scar is distinct, not very 
large, and small punctures, looking as if made with 
a pin, appear plain over the surface of the scar, it is a 
good sign that the vaccination was genuine. Persons 
who have such a scar may feel comparatively safe, 
but need not unnecessarily expose themselves to 
small pox. 

Any person can vaccinate, first being perfectly cer- 
tain that the matter is genuine. Know that it is 
from a healthy person, and know that it is what it 
purports to be, unmixed with itch, or any other dis- 
ease of the skin. Moisten the inner part of the scab 
and put a little of this just under the skin, in three 
or four places, after making a puncture with a lancet, 
sharp pointed knife, or needle. Do not make the 
puncture so deep that the blood will run, or the mat- 
ter may run out with it. 



CHICKEN POX. 229 

CHICKEN POX (VARICELLA). 

Chicken pox is a light, eruptive disease, almost 
peculiar to children. It has some resemblance to 
small pox, in commencing with a fever, which con- 
tinues from one to three days before the eruption 
appears. This generally comes out first on the breast 
and back, next on the face and scalp, and lastly on 
the extremities. It has been alleged that chicken 
pox can not be communicated by inoculation. But 
this is now conceded to be an error. Chicken pox 
diners from small pox in being a much milder dis- 
ease. The pocks are distinct, irregular in shape and 
size. They are filled on the first day of their appear- 
ance with a clear fluid, attended with itching. On 
the second or third day the pocks break, crusts or 
scabs from which fall oft about the fifth or sixth day, 
without leaving pits. Chicken pox seldom requires 
much medicine. Gentle, cooling laxatives, such as 
magnesia and salts, or magnesia and rhubarb, if the 
bowels are relaxed, and a mild vegetable diet, is com- 
monly all that is necessary. Children are sometimes 
taken with convulsions at the time of the appearance 
of the eruption, which exceedingly alarms the friends. 
They are generally not dangerous. The warm bath, 
and an injection of catnip tea, remove them. 



230 



THE HOUSE WE LITE IN. 



WARM BATH. 



Useful in all kinds of convulsions, spasms, and 
cramps, which are attended with, or dependent upon, 
any rigidity of any of the muscles. In obstructions 
of the bowels from inflammation, or from irritation 
of improper food, or from an improper quantity. In 
urinary obstructions, either from gravel or inflamma- 
tion or irritation of the bladder, or the mucous mem- 
branes or' its appendages. In strangulated hernia 
generally, and in female obstructions. Often useful 
in rheumatic affections, and in neuralgic pains. 

P. S. 

NETTLE EASH UETICAEIA. 

This is a very common, and often a very trouble- 
some disease, though not generally dangerous to life. 
It appears in hard elevations of the skin, of irregular 
form, generally whiter in the centre than the sur- 
rounding skin, with a diffuse redness around their 
margins, and with an intolerable itching, and a sting- 
ing or smarting pain, like the stinging of nettles, 
which gives it its name. 

No age is exempt from it, but it more frequently 
affects the young, and females. It is most common 
with irritable and nervous constitutions. It some- 
times comes and goes several times in the course of a 
day. It becomes chronic with some, and exists for 
months, or even years. Many are subject to it all 



NETTLE RASH. 231 

their lives. It is probably always connected with 
disorder of the digestive organs, and in some consti- 
tutions is readily produced by some particular kind 
of food, such as some kinds of raw vegetables, or some 
kinds of fish, or any kind of unaccustomed diet. 
Patients affected with this disease should take par- 
ticular pains to observe and ascertain what kind of 
food with them will excite the disease. It may be 
something owing to a particular idosyncrasy, that 
ordinarily is a very harmless diet. In cases bad 
enough to need medicine — and there are many such 
cases — give the patient an emetic of ipecac, or ipecac 
and sulphate of zinc, followed by a cathartic of mag- 
nesia and rhubarb. After this give quinine bitters, in 
which the quinine is dissolved by adding a drachm of 
dilute sulphuric acid to a pint of the bitters. These are 
to be taken from three to five times a day. A laxative 
of rhubarb syrup, alterative powders, or corrective 
pills should be taken every other night. The body 
should be frequently washed and kept clean. Bathe 
often with salt and water, and with dilute nitric 
acid, an ounce to a quart of salt water occasionally. 

P. S. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



SIGNS OF PREGNANCY. 



When conception has taken place in a woman the 
face usually is rather paler than natural, and the 
under part of the lower eyelid is of a hue darker than 
natural. Often the features become sharper, and the 
person thinner. She is often uncommonly irritable, 
more easily vexed and troubled. Sickness in the 
morning, some feverishness, indigestion, heartburn, 
and languor, disturbed sleep and disagreeable dreams 
often accompany the early stages of pregnancy; a 
sense of bearing down, some irritation about the 
urinary organs, and an uncommon flow of urine often 
exists. A condition of the navel affords strong indi- 
cations of the pregnant state. The first two months 
the navel is drawn inwards and downwards ; in the 
third month it is nearly natural ; in the fourth it is 
not so hollow as natural ; in the fifth and sixth it is 
■almost level ; in the latter part of the sixth and in 
the seventh it is quite level ; in the last months of 
pregnancy it projects considerably. If these symptoms 
follow regularly, pregnancy is pretty certain. The 
•cessation of the monthly periods, if the woman has 
l)een regular to the time of sexual connection, is also 



ABOETIOK. 233 

a pretty certain sign of pregnancy. Such cessation 
may be occasioned by other causes ; and on the other 
hand pregnancy does not always occasion immediate 
and abrupt cessation, but sometimes the monthly dis- 
charge takes place, once, twice, or three times, in 
diminished quantity. The breasts generally begin to 
enlarge about the end of the third month in preg- 
nancy. If this is accompanied by a slightly painful 
and prickly sensation, with a sort of knotty feeling 
when the hand is pressed upon the breast, it is a pre- 
sumptive sign of pregnancy. The nipple generally 
enlarges some when pregnancy takes place, and the 
areola around it, which is a circle of roseate hue, 
turns to a dusky brown color. This is especially 
obvious in the first pregnancy. The good ladies 
think that spitting cotton, as they call it, is a pretty 
sure sign of pregnancy, that is, a clammy, frothy 
spittle, P. S. 

ABOETION. 

Abortion, or miscarriage, may be divided into acci- 
dental and habitual. The exciting cause of the 
accidental may, in general, be easily detected. A 
slip and a fall, a blow, or a strain, a jump out of a 
carriage, violent exercise, as dancing, or hard walking, 
or riding in a jolting wagon, lifting, even a very light 
weight, when it is raised high as it can be reached, 
strong medicines, especially drastic purges, violent 
passions of grief, joy, or anger ; in short any thing 



234 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

that violently disturbs or agitates the system. Any 
of these causes produces its injurious effect, according 
to the susceptibility, irritability, or deficient consti- 
tutional vigor of the patient. Habitual abortion is 
that in which one abortion follows another. One 
abortion paves the way for another. When the 
period arrives at which a former abortion took place, 
a slight cause will induce another, and thus miscar- 
riages are frequently repeated to the destruction of 
health, and the breaking up of the constitution. It 
requires great care and is very difficult to prevent 
abortions when they have become habitual. It may, 
nevertheless, often be done with proper care and 
management. Be careful to avoid all the exciting 
causes. Use constant, gentle exercise, but not to 
produce fatigue. Let the diet be principally vege- 
table, with such fruits as agree well with the stomach, 
with occasional light animal food if the stomach 
requires it. Keep the bowels loose with some cooling 
laxative, as magnesia effervescing drafts, or Seidlitz 
powders, if the arterial action is increased ; and with 
rhubarb syrup, or olive oil and wine, a table-spoonful 
of equal parts shaken together, two or three times a 
day, if the action is diminished. If the appetite fails, 
or there is some degree of nausea, take infusion of 
quassia wood, columbo root, or chamomile flowers, 
before meals. Avoid strong physic. Bathe in the 
morning with salt water ; first take chill off, then as 
cold as can be borne without producing permanent 



PREGNANCY. 235 

chill. When abortion is threatened, it is very apt 
to go on to completion. When flowing exists, and 
regular pains are established, it is vain to try to stop 
the progress, but conduct the patient safely through 
to confinement. But when from strain or hurt, as 
from a jar or slip, a discharge takes place, the patient, 
by immediate and proper care, before regular pains 
are induced, may be relieved, and further danger 
arrested. Let her go to bed, apply wet cloths to the 
pubic regions, introduce alum water with a female 
syringe, take a Dover's powder, with two grains of 
sugar of lead, or four grains of alum, once in four 
hours ; light physic next day. 

DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. 

Vomiting, called morning sickness, generally com- 
mences shortly after conception, and ceases on quick- 
ening. It is usually most troublesome on rising. 
Sometimes it is very violent, and continues all day, 
and every thing taken is rejected This state of 
things requires attention. Keep the bowels open 
with corrective pills, magnesia and rhubarb, magnesia 
and salts, rhubarb syrup, or injections, according to 
the condition of the patient. Apply common lini- 
ment, or brandy and ginger, to the pit of the stom- 
ach. Give infusion of quassia, or chamomile flowers, 
three times a day before meals. Heartburn and acid 
eructations are relieved by taking half a tea-spoonful 
of carbonate of soda, after opening the bowels with 



236 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

magnesia and rhubarb, or a wine-glassful of lime water 
in milk, as occasion may require. The bitter tea, as 
above, is beneficial. Spasms, or cramp of stomach 
and bowels, keep the bowels open, give ten drops of 
laudanum, with a half a tea-spoonful of ether ; or of 
equal parts of laudanum, camphor spirits, tincture of 
cardamon seeds and tincture of cayenne ; give forty 
or fifty drops in half a gill of sweetened water, or a 
weak brandy sling, once in thirty minutes, and apply 
friction over the part with common liniment, or warm 
fomentations with bitter herbs and smart-weed. 
Costiveness is very common, and should be carefully 
guarded against. Piles often occur; the bowels 
should be kept open with sulphur and cream of 
tartar. If very obstinate, use the piles ointment. 
Itching of the pudenda, use alterative wash, ~No. 1, 
or perhaps No. 3, and keep the bowels open with 
cooling laxatives. Swelled limbs and enlarged veins, 
bandage the limbs, wash with astringents, keep off 
from the feet as much as possible, keep the bowels 
open, exercise by riding in an easy carriage. Trouble 
about the urine, keep the bowels open, drink slip- 
pery elm and uva ursi tea. 

SICK STOMACH IN PREGNANCY. 

This is a distressing complaint, but it must be some 
satisfaction to know that it is not fatal, and will at 
least cease with its cause. It usually commences at 
about the fourth month, but sometimes at the begin- 



PEEGKA.NCY. 237 

ning of tlie second month. Take such food as you 
find by experience agrees best with your stomach. 
It generally does not make much difference, one arti- 
cle of diet will do as well as another, but sometimes 
some things can be eaten with impunity, while others 
can not. The stomach is sour, the eructations being 
sharp acid. Anti-acids are to be used ; soda, weak 
lye, lime water, magnesia, may all be taken. Oyster 
shells, burned until they will slack, are pure lime ; put 
enough of this lime into water to produce a brackish 
taste, and use this as a drink. No one anti-acid 
should be used long at a time ; it is best to change 
from one to another as often as once a week. The 
last two or three months, flaxseed, or slippery elm, a 
wheat bran tea, or gum arabic water, should be used 
freely as a drink. It is beneficial in many ways, and 
will render your labor shorter and easier. I have 
sometimes known lemon juice to correct the acidity 
and relieve the sickness when anti-acids would not. 
When these simple means fail, take two grains of 
iodide of potassium three times per day before eating, 
and use concentrated nourishment, like animal soups. 
The concentrated beef, made by the Borden process, 
is an excellent article, and can be prepared in five 
minutes. Your appetite will generally direct what 
your diet should be. It is very seldom that what a 
woman craves under these circumstances will disagree 
with her, if taken in suitable quantities. Take all 
the exercise you can, and in the open air. Nothing 



238 THE HOUSE WE LITE IN. 

can be worse than to shut yourself up in a close 
room. Exercise, take the air, keep up good spirits. 



PUEEPERAL, OR CHILD-BED FEVER. 

A great variety of opinions exist among the most 
skillful and celebrated medical writers on the nature 
and treatment of child-bed fever. This, in a great 
measure, no doubt, arises from the great variety of 
diseases called child-bed fever, and the great variety 
of causes which produce the disease. Disease or a 
tendency to disease is held at bay, and kept back by a 
state of pregnancy. After confinement, the disease 
manifests itself with a force according to the strength 
of the predisposing cause. Without a stronger pre- 
disposing cause, the natural tendency of the pregnant 
state is to produce an inflammatory diathesis, and 
after confinement, an exciting cause produces an in- 
flammatory disease, which naturally seizes on a weak- 
ened part, and inflammation of the bowels, the 
peritoneum, the womb and its appendages takes place, 
and one kind of child-bed fever is produced. Another 
has been subjected to a stronger predisposing cause, 
malarious, infectious, or contagious, and a typhus form 
of fever is developed with strong determination to 
the recently debilitated parts, and another kind of 
child-bed fever exists. Let the treatment conform to 
the different variety of fever, according to the prin- 
ciples already laid down on the treatment of fevers. 



MILK LEG. 239 

I have often found, when great nausea prevails in the 
typhus variety, much benefit from an emetic of sul- 
phate of zinc four grains, ipecac fifteen grains, stirred in 
half a teacupful of strong sage tea, with two drachms 
paregoric elixir and one drachm of sugar, repeated once 
in twenty minutes until free vomiting is produced, to be 
followed in three hours with a cathartic of rhubarb 
and magnesia. Quinine bitters and Dover's powder, 
as in other fevers, counter irritation, cupping, mustard 
plaster or liniments, according to circumstances. 
Common liniment, cloths 9 wrung out of hot spirits, 
fomentations of hops or smartweed, liniment of two 
parts spirits of turpentine, and one of aqua ammonia. 

P. S. 

PHLEGMASIA DOLENS SOMETIMES CALLED MILK LEG. 

This disease is peculiar to women in child-bed, and 
generally makes its attack between the fifth and ninth 
days after confinement. In general, the first symptoms 
are pain and stiffness in the groin, accompanied with 
chills, soon followed by fever. The swelling, more or 
less rapidly, extends over the whole limbs and con- 
tinues to increase till the limb is very much swelled 
and painful, and extremely tender to the touch. Al- 
though the skin has increased heat to the touch, yet 
it is pale to the sight and whiter than the well limb. 

Writers differ very much in regard to the pathology 
and proximate cause of this disease. Most, however, 
consider its origin in the lymphatic glands, and 



240 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

extending through the lymphatic system. Probably 
an engorgement exists there, in consequence of ob- 
struction in the glands, preventing the free passage of 
the lymph to the thoracic duct. Some think that 
malaria is a partial or principal predisposing cause. 
Be this as it may, I have found that the far most suc- 
cessful treatment is that which most speedily cures an 
intermittent fever. In connexion with the appropriate 
local application to the limb, bleeding is recommended 
when the symptoms are highly inflammatory. I have 
not found it necessary in this climate. I begin with 
a saline cathartic; mix equal parts of epsom salts and 
magnesia ; give two teaspoonfuls of the mixture in a 
little milk and water, once in two hours, until it 
operates freely; give a diaphoretic powder, after the 
operation; then give quinine bitters, once in three 
hours through the day, and a diaphoretic powder, 
with some sweating tea after it, once in four or six 
hours through the night. Physic should be given 
once in two days. A teaspoonful of magnesia, with 
thirty drops of tincture of colchicum, once in four 
hours, until it operates, sometimes answers a good 
purpose. My common liniment, with as much friction 
as can be borne, rubbing it in very gently with the 
hand, fifteen or twenty minutes at a time, four or five 
times a day. When the tenderness is mostly gone, 
use strong liniment. The recovery of the limb is 
generally slow; use much friction with liniment. 
Riding expedites the cure. Attend to the general 



NURSING SORE MOUTH. 241 

health. I have seen much evil arise from poultices 
and warm fomentations in the beginning of the disease. 

P. S. 

I have only to say, in this complaint, that the lini- 
ment, called Sedgwick's liniment in this work, was 
first made for a case of this complaint ; it seemed to 
be just the thing. It operated like a charm. I have 
used it since in every case that I have seen, and with 
good result. I think it is better than the " common 
liniment." When the soreness is so far relieved that it 
can be borne without inconvenience, the leg should 
be carefully bandaged from the toes to the body every 
morning, and taken off at night, and the liniment 
applied with friction, 

CASE OF NURSING SORE MOUTH. 

Not long after Mrs. Ward's return home to Utica, 
well, Mrs. Butler, with Mr. Chamberlin, came to see 
me, and wished to learn of me how I treated Mrs. 
Ward, for Mrs. Chamberlin was in the same condition, 
and they thought the same treatment would cure her. 
I thought I would do as I would be done by. I, 
accordingly, wrote the treatment out minutely, and 
in a sealed letter, sent it by them to her attending 

physician, Dr. P , a gentleman of the highest 

standing in the city of Utica. Some three or four 
months after this, I was in the city of Utica and called 
on Mrs. Butler, and inquired of her how Mrs. Ghani- 
16 



242 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

berlin got along. (They both lived in one house.) 
" Oh, she is well," says she ; " she got well pretty soon 
after we were at your house." " How came you to 
prescribe a mercurial course, or a course of calomel, 
for her ? Doctor P. said, you did, and he 
thought a mercurial course would not do very well for 
her. We thought so, too, and so he prescribed his 
own way." "Do you know what he did for her?' 7 
said I. " Yes," says she, " I know something about 
it. I saw her every day, and saw all her medicine. 
He directed her to wean her babe, and gave her a 
kind of bitters, which appeared to me like your 
cascarilla bitters. He also directed her to drink 
pretty freely of an infusion of blue violet root. Mr. 
Butler went out in the country with Mr. Chamberlin 
to get the violet root for her. They got a great 
parcel of it. She thought it did her the most good 
of any thing. She said she could feel it do her good 
all the way down. You know she had a great deal 
of burning in her stomach. It relieved that entirely. 
He give light physic — some mild pills, I believe, and 
sometimes sulphur and cream-of-tartar, and ordered 
her to be washed with salt and water." " He followed 
my treatment, madam." Alas for human nature ! 

P. S. 

My mother was troubled with nursing sore mouth, 
and I remember gathering the wild violet roots for 
her, many times, when a boy ; she thought there was 



SORE NIPPLES. 243 

nothing like it. It is simple, and very soothing to the 
mouth and throat. I have used, with success, iodide 
of potassium and chlorate of potassium. I do not know 
which is the best, but I have used the iodide most. 
Dissolve half an ounce, in half a pint of water, and 
take a tea-spoonful, three times a day, before meals ; 
hold it in the mouth a minute or two before swallow- 
ing, and let it go down slowly. This, with plenty of 
strong beer, taken frequently during the day, until a 
quart or more is drunk each day, has never failed to 
give marked relief, and has generally effected a cure. 
It may, however, become necessary to wean the child ; 
if the disease does not yield to remedies, the child 
must be weaned, or the lives of both will be put in 
jeopardy. 

SOEE NIPPLES. 

Young women should wash their nipples every day 
in a strong decoction of oak bark, or nut galls, for 
weeks before they are confined. If they do this 
thoroughly, they will not suffer from this painful 
affection. After they commence nursing, if the nip- 
ples are tender, they should be washed every time 
after nursing, wiped dry, and wet with the following : 
Take a tea-spoonful of borax and myrrh, mixed equal 
parts and pulverized ; pour upon them a tea-cup, two- 
thirds fall, of boiling water, sweeten with loaf sugar ; 
let this remain on until you have to nurse the babe, 



244 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

then wash it off. Persevere in this, and this trouble 
will soon cease. 

ANOTHER CASE OF NURSING SORE MOUTH. 

Case of Mrs. Cynthia Ward, of Utica, New York, 
exemplifying the treatment of nursing sore mouth, 
and also the gentlemanly and honorable conduct of 
some of the upper class of city physicians. I was 
residing in Westmoreland, Oneida county, New York. 
Mrs. S. Butler, the wife of a Methodist clergyman, 
now residing in Utica, previously lived in Westmore- 
land, near me, and was well acquainted with my 
practice. She advised Mrs. Ward to apply to me. 
Mrs. Ward had a little son, nine months old, that she 
was nursing. She had had sore mouth eighteen 
months. Her father, E. Benjamin, a blind man, lived 
in Westmoreland, about two miles from me. He 
came to me and said : "I want you to go and see my 
daughter, Cynthia ; she is Mrs. Ward, from Utica, and 
has come home to die, I suppose." "Ah," says I, 
" how long has she being sick, and what is her dis- 
ease ? " " Oh," says he, " she has been sick eighteen 
months ; she has the consumption, and is given up to 
die by four of the principal physicians of Utica. She 
is very weak, and can not sit up at all without faint- 
ing. She came on the canal, and was brought from 
the canal to my house by four men on a bier." I 
went to see her, rather reluctantly, as I had often been 
called to see patients in the last and incurable stage 






SWELLED BREAST. 245 

of consumption. I dreaded it. But when I came to 
see her, it was not the consumption that I dreaded so 
much ; but she was dreadfully reduced and debilitated 
with that kind of decline which proceeds from 
nursing sore mouth. Directed her to drink from half 
a pint to a pint a day of the infusion of that kind of 
wild violet, the root of which is mucilaginous, like 
conrfrey viola lucullata, I believe root and top 
bruised together, and a handful put into a pint of 
cold water ; take cascarilla bitters, two table-spoonfuls, 
three times a day, before meals ; three corrective pills 
every other night, or a tea-spoonful of sulphur and 
cream of tartar when the piles troubled her. Wean 
the baby. Wet the body all over with a sponge, wet 
in warm salt' water, then wipe with a coarse towel. 
Diet light, but nourishing, taken five times a day, 
every other time beef tea, or egg punch. She was 
well in eight weeks. 

CAKED, OR SWELLED BREAST. 

This sometimes proceeds from taking cold, or from 
exposing the breast to the air, but more frequently 
from neglecting to draw the breasts clean of milk. At 
least once each day the breasts should be thoroughly 
pumped with a breast pump, if the child does not 
take all the milk, and it will not do so for the first 
few weeks, if the mother is healthy. When a lump 
is felt, whether there is pain or not, it should be 
attended to at once. If it proceeds from a cold, and 



246 THE HOUSE WE LIYE IN. 

there is fever, a dose of salts and magnesia should be 
administered, a tea-spoonful of each, once in two 
hours until its operates ; a cloth, several thicknesses, 
wet in spirts of camphor and water, should be applied 
warm to the lump or swelling. If this does not 
succeed within twenty-four hours, take muriate of 
ammonia, one ounce, hot water, one pint ; when the 
ammonia is dissolved, add one quart of vinegar, make 
it all scalding hot, then stir in wheat bran until all 
is as thick as hasty pudding ; take enough of this to 
cover the swelled part, put it between cloths, and 
apply it warm ; change as often as it becomes dry, 
and each time have the poultice warm and moist ; if 
it irritates the skin, make it weaker by adding water 
and more bran, scalding each time. Be sure and 
keep the milk out. If you do this in season, you will 
not have the pain and trouble of a broken breast ; 
but if matter does form in spite of all you can do, 
it should be lanced as soon as possible ; this will 
save you many days of pain. Next to this poultice, 
camphorated oil, applied upon oil silk, is the best 
thing. 

SPINAL AFFECTION. 

There is such a disease as Spinal Disease, in which 
the vertebrae, or joints of the backbone, become cari- 
ous, or ulcerated. This is a terrible disease, and 
the sufferer is wholly unable to stand upon his feet, 
or turn himself in bed ; but fortunately it very seldom 



SPINAL AFFECTION. 247 

occurs, and belongs to the most advanced and skillful 
surgery. I do not propose to treat of it here. The 
spinal marrow is a prolongation of the brain, the cen- 
tral part of the nervous system. Branches of nerves 
from these central parts are ramified throughout the 
system, and in minute divisions pervade every part. 
Wherever there is diseased action, producing painful 
or unhealthy sensations, these are communicated by 
the nerves to the centre of the nervous system. Dis- 
eases, therefore, that come under the observation of 
practitioners not skilled in " rendering a reason," are 
Spinal Diseases. Hence the great prevalence of such 
diseases at this day. 

We have mentioned a case called Spinal Disease 
from sciatic rheumatism. Many similar cases have 
occurred to the writer. Chronic rheumatism in almost 
any part of the body, and lumbago especially, is sure 
to be called disease of the spine. Many cases of dis- 
ease of the general health, of liver complaint, diseased 
or enlarged spleen, dyspepsia, and every kind of 
female weakness, are pronounced Spinal Diseases. 
Chlorosis, leucorrhcea, amenorrhea, and especially 
prolapsus uteri, are frequently styled Spinal Diseases. 
And many cases of the latter complaint have come 
under the observation of the writer, which had been 
cauterized with the most powerful caustics, almost 
the whole length of the backbone, producing large 
and deep-seated ulcers, very painful and irritating to 
the nervous system, thereby producing debility, dis- 



248 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

heartening discouragement, and entirely destroying 
that "merry heart which doeth good like a medicine." , 
Such cases have been restored to comfortable health, 
by restoring the general health, and applying the 
proper remedies for the specific complaint, which are 
exemplified in the following cases of female diseases 
and prolapsus uteri. p. s. 

PROLAPSUS UTEEI. 

Case 1st — S. W , a delicate, modest, and 

rather reserved young lady, twenty-four years of age, 
came with her mother into our village on a visit. 
The first night after her arrival she was taken with 
strong, convulsive fits, and I was called to her in the 
middle of the night. Her mother informed me that 
she had been in feeble health for ten years ; that they 
had employed many physicians at a cost of live or six 
hundred dollars, and that she still remained about the 
same. She was subject to such fits whenever she 
rode out any distance, or whenever she went about 
much. She was a neat seamstress, and her business 
was to sit and sew. I gave her a teaspoonful of 
sulphuric ether, with thirty drops of laudanum, in 
half a gill of sweetened water, ordered warm applica- 
tions to her feet and left her. I went home pondering 
what could be the cause and the nature of her condi- 
tion. I thought of prolapsus uteri, and resolved to 
see her the next morning. I visited her about ten, 
A.M. ; the anodyne had quieted her, and she had 



PKOLAPSUS UTEKI. 249 

slept until late, and I found her in bed. Calling her 
mother out, I inquired of her if her daughter was not 
troubled with bearing down. She said she did not 
know any thing about it; her daughter never com- 
plained to her of any thing of the kind. She is 
regular in her monthlies, as to time, but is very bad, 
and has a great deal of pain. " Well," I said, " you 
go in and dress her. I will come into the room, and 
let her get up and walk a few steps in my presence." 
She did so, and I thought I could detect a little 
flinching when she stepped upon the floor and at 
every step, and she sat down in the chair, as if it was a 
relief to get there. I then told her mother to let her 
lie down, and I would go in and have a talk with 
her, if she thought best. She assented ; I went in, 
sat down by her bed, spoke kindly, told her that I 
professed to be a friend to my patients, and was 
desirous to benefit them all I could. I understand 
you have been afflicted with poor health for a long 
time. This must be a great cause of unhappiness to 
one at your time of life. I sympathize with you sin- 
cerely, and would be very happy to relieve you. I 
then went on to say, "I suspect you have some 
delicate complaint which you have kept to yourself." 
She began to fidget a little and to turn her face from 
me. " Do not, my dear girl," I said, be afraid to let 
your condition be known. I am your friend. I am 
used to such cases. I have relieved many, and prob- 
ably can relieve you. I think you are troubled with 



250 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

bearing down." She placed the handkerchief to her 
eyes and cried like a child. I assured her the best I 
could, told her the complaint made her wretched 
It would not, like some diseases, get well of itself: 
but I could cure it. She must lay aside her delicacy 
for the present, tell me all about it, and I would treat 
her kindly and in a friendly manner, and probably 
cure her. She soon became composed, and frankly 
told me how she was, and how it was caused. When 
she was fourteen years old she was crushed down 
with a turn-up bedstead, which fell on her as she was 
stooping down under where it fell. Ever after she 
had been troubled with that terrible distress, and she 
had had many physicians, who prescribed something 
to quiet the nerves and to relieve her paroxysms of 
convulsions; yet, on the whole, she had grown con- 
stantly worse, and no one, not even her mother,. had 
any idea of the cause. My wife had considerable 
sewing to do, and as her father was not very well off, 
and as she could sew, and that was all she could do, I 
invited her to come to my house, and I would take 
care of her. Her parents approved the plan, and she 
came. I found the prolapsus very bad. [If the 
reader desires to understand perfectly the nature and 
extent of this distressing complaint, they should 
understand the anatomy of those organs. [The uterus 
was quite down, entirely out of its proper place, and 
the parts so sore and tender that they could not be 
touched without much pain. I used a wash, with a 



PEOLAPSUS TTTEKI. 251 

female syringe, composed of sugar of lead one drachm, 
laudanum half an ounce, and soft water one pint, for 
a week, twice a day, before the prolapsed part could 
be raised at all. After this, the wash was continued 
and the part was raised a little, more arid more every 
day. In about a week longer, it was raised nearly to 
the natural position. Then a piece of soft sponge, 
which, when expanded and cut in a globular form, 
was about two and a half inches in diameter, with a 
cord attached to it, strong enough to pull the sponge 
away when necessary, (the cord should be long 
enough to pass from the sponge to the outside double, 
the ends tied together within the sponge, so that the 
knot would not be outside the sponge to irritate the 
parts), and while there was much soreness, wet with 
the lead water and oiled over with sweet oil, was 
carefully crowded up into the vagina before she arose 
in the morning, by pushing, first, one side, then the 
other, all around the sponge until it was in its place. 
Then a bandage was applied, with a pad in front, 
just above and close down to the pubis, on front 
bone, and a compress made by rolling a piece of cloth 
tight, so that it would make a roll two inches Ions: 
and an inch and a quarter or an inch and a half in 
diameter, and placed it in the lower part of the body, 
just forward of the lower part of the back bone, and 
the part of the bandage which was four inches wide, 
drawn tightly over this compress and pinned to the 
bandage, which goes around the body. This makes 



252 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

constant pressure where it serves to hold the sponge 
in its place. The sponge is taken away at night, on 
going to bed, washed clean, and replaced in the 
morning before rising. 

I am aware that many men of deservedly high 
standing in the profession, object strongly to the 
sponge pessary, principally because by absorbing the 
animal fluids it becomes offensive and irritating ; and 
indeed this objection is valid, if it be allowed to 
remain long without cleansing. I have tried every 
kind of pessary that has been invented or recom- 
mended, and have not been able to succeed near as 
well with any other internal local support as with 
the sponge, which should be of the finest kind, and 
should be worn while the patient is up, and should 
be taken away and cleansed when she lies down. 
When the sponge is removed some wash should be 
used with the female syringe. Use the solution of 
sugar of lead while much soreness exists, as above 
recommended. When the soreness is removed, or 
nearly so, use an astringent wash, alum, one drachm 
to a pint of soft water, or alum and white vitriol, of 
each half a drachm to the same quantity of water. 
Then change to some kind of vegetable astringent ; 
an infusion of oak bark, or nut galls, may be used for 
a week, and so change from one kind to the other as 
may seem advisable. If there should be any kind of 
ulceration, as occasionally happens in cases of long 
standing, use, once or twice a week, an alterative 



DELICACY. 253 

wash, say two grains of blue vitriol, or half a grain of 
corrosive sublimate, to an ounce of soft water, accord- 
ing to circumstances. If there should exist disease 
of the general health, leucorrhoea, or any thing else 
wrong in the system, it should be treated in addition 
according to the directions under those heads. In 
the case to which these directions are subjoined, cos- 
tiveness and a weak stomach existed. Corrective 
pills and cascarilla bitters were used. She improved 
rapidly, was married the fall after to a likely young 
man, and has since raised a family of fine children. 
She is a good housewife, and the family is a happy 
one. P. S. 

DELICACY. 

Father has remarked, in the case just related, that 
he told this young lady that she " must lay aside he] 
delicacy at present." This is a wrong idea ; he meanl 
false delicacy. There can never be a time when it is 
necessary for a lady to lay aside true delicacy, and * 
genuine lady never will. When a lady has any dis- 
ease about her, it is a false delicacy that prevents hei 
from truthfully revealing the whok* facts in the cas*^ 
to any physician who is a tru> gentleman. There ; s 
no cause for nervousness, oj even a blush, unless, 
indeed, the disease has beei? brought upon her by 
some wickedness of her own If she is innocent of 
any sin, let her select for hex physician a scientific 
man, who has also a reputation for modest and gentle- 



254 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

manly bearing, place in him the most implicit confi- 
dence, and she -can, without a blush, or even thinking 
she is committing an indelicate act, unfold to him all 
her troubles, and expose to him any part of her per- 
son necessary for a full knowledge of her disease. If 
she does this calmly, without nervousness, or unneces- 
sary hesitation, he will regard and treat her as a per- 
fect lady. This is my experience. The sick room is 
a good place to distinguish a true lady from a false 
one, genuine delicacy from the counterfeit, kindness 
and benevolence from selfishness and laziness. A 
physician who is a true gentleman, will never unneces- 
sarily expose the person of a lady, or ask her an 
unnecessary question. Be sure your physician is a 
gentleman, and you need never blush or hesitate to 
answer any question he may ask you plainly and 
truthfully. If you have any secrets, and they are 
revealed to him professionally, they are safe in his 
keeping ; he is your friend, place confidence in him, 
your life or health depend upon telling him the truth. 
It is false not true delicacy that hesitates and keep 
back the truth. 

MENORRHAGIA, OR HEMORRHAGE FROM THE UTERUS. 

For immoderate flow of the menses, or when it con- 
tinues too long, I frequently give sugar of lead, two 
grains, with four grains of Dover's powder, once in 
four hours, until the discharge ceases, then give physic 
composed of magnesia and salts. If the discharge is 



DYSMENOKKHCEA. 



255 



unyielding and persistent, use the female syringe, with 
alum water, a drachm to the half pint, introducing an 
ounce or two at a time, as often as the occasion may 
require. In case of rapid discharge, giving immediate 
danger to the patient, take a smooth lump of alum, 
nearly or quite as large as ^ hen's egg, wet a thin 
piece of cloth large enough to wrap the alum and tie 
it in, and leave six inches below the alum to take 
hold of when it is to be drawn away. This serves 
as a tampon, and an astringent; a clot is formed 
above the alum, and the haemorrhage ceases. The 
next day the alum may be carefully taken away. If 
a little haemorrhage appears, the syringe, with the 
alum water, may be used; if the blood gashes as 
before, the alum must be replaced. All such cases 
require attention to the general health, which must 
be attended to on principles already laid down. 

P. S. 



DYSMENOKEH02A 



PAINFUL MENSTRUATION. 



This is a frequent complaint among females, and in 
many it produces extreme suffering. For treatment, 
attend to the general health on principles already 
laid down. During the pain keep the feet warm, 
give a Dover's powder well charged with camphor, 
and followed by some warm, sweating drink, every 
four hours, until the pain is relieved. For ten days 
previous to the menstrual period, give a tea-spoonful 
of Dewee's tincture, in half a gill of milk, three 



256 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

times a day, an hour after meals. Keep the bowels 
right with corrective pills. Give tone to the stomach 
with cascarilla bitters, and to the system, by frequent 
bathing with salt water, and by pleasant exercise. 

P. S. 

AMENORRHEA OBSTRUCTION" OF THE MENSES. 

A very common disease among females. It is 
occasioned by any thing that diseases, or deranges the 
general health. The most frequent cause is a cold, 
especially if taken during menstruation. It should be 
treated by regulating the general health, and by em- 
ploying those milder emmenagogues, which are proper 
for such a condition. My very common and generally 
successful prescription is : corrective pills, every other 
night, enough to move the bowels in the course of 
the next day; two table- spoonfuls of cascarilla bitters, 
three times a day, before meals, and a tea-spoonful of 
De wee's Tincture, three times a day, an hour after 
meals, in half a gill of milk, for the ten days previous 
to each menstrual period ; agreeable and pleasant 
exercise, as much as can be borne without fatigue ; 
frequent bathing with salt water, and wiping with 
coarse towels, so as to produce considerable friction. 
Let the feet be kept dry and warm. If they are 
much inclined to coldness they should be bathed 
often, and with considerable time at each bath, in 
some warm, stimulating wash, such as mustard and 
salt, or what is much better, especially when torpor 



FLUOR ALBTJS. 257 

of the liver exists, in the nitro-muriatic solution, a tea- 
spoonful in a pint of soft water. 

N. B. — One ounce of nitric acid, with one ounce 
of muriatic acid, and two ounces of wate^r makes the 
nitro-muriatic solution. A drachm of this solution, 
to a pint of water, is the common strength for a foot 
bath. The feet and legs should be wet either by im- 
mersing them in it, or by applying with a sponge or 
cloths, for fifteen or twenty minutes. It should then 
produce a slight prickly sensation. If the bath does 
not produce this effect, it should be made a little 
stronger, by adding a little more of the solution to 
the water. This bath is often very serviceable in any 
case of torpid secretions, especially of the liver. It 
should not be put in metallic vessels, but kept in 
earthern, glass, or wood. P. S. ' 

LEUCORRH03A FLUOR ALBUS THE WHITES. 

This disease proceeds from various causes, and is 
very common in females, perhaps more frequent 
among those that live in humid situations, and those, 
also, who indulge largely in hot drinks, as tea or 
coffee, or any other thing that tends to relax the 
system. 

For the general treatment see disease of the general 
health ; and take tincture of cantharides, begin with 
twenty drops, and increase one drop every dose,, 
taking it three times a day, half an hour after meals, 
until it produces a little strangury, that is, a little- 
17 



258 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 

griping in the urine, then begin back with twenty 
drops and increase, as before, one drop at a dose, until 
it again produces the griping. This do three times, 
then give pjlls made of nitrate of silver. Dissolve 
four grains of the nitrate in a tea-spoonful of soft 
water, and with crumbs of dry bread, enough to ab- 
sorb the solution and make a mass for pills ; make 
sixty-four ; Give one three times a day, an hour after 
meals. In the meantime, keep the bowels right with 
corrective pills, and the stomach in tone with casca- 
rilla bitters. After following the above treatment a 
few weeks, I change the medicine for a week or so, 
and use turpentine pills. Take Yenice turpentine 
and Castile soap, of each an equal part; rub them 
together in a mortar, then thicken them to the con- 
sistence of a pilling mass, with liquorice powder. 
Make pills of the common size, or a little larger. 
Give a pill, every hour or two through the day, for a 
week, then recur again to the other medicines. 

P. S. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

BETWEEN MOTHER AND CHILD. 

When a child is born the umbilical cord should be 
cut as soon as the child breathes, or as soon as the 
circulation between the mother and child is sus- 
pended, which may be known by the cessation of 
pulsation in the cord. A stout, sharp twine, made 
by doubling several threads of sewing cotton and 
twisting them hard, should then be tied around the 
cord, about one and a half inches from the body of 
the child ; this twine should be drawn very tightly, 
then another ligature should be tied about the cord, 
two or three inches above the first ; then with a sharp 
pair of shears cut the cord, one inch above the first 
ligature. The last ligature is to prevent bleeding 
from the mother. If you are not ready to dress the 
child, wrap it in warm woolens and put it where it 
will keep warm. But it should be dressed just as 
soon as a hand can be spared from taking care of the 
mother. Every woman should know how to do this, 
for she does not know how soon she may be called 
upon to perform this service. First examine every 
part of the child carefully to see if it is perfect ; then 
if it is covered or has spots of a gelatinous, sticky 



260 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN". 

substance, cover it with sweet oil or lard, or any 
other grease you happen to have in the house ; then 
wash it perfectly clean with a woolen rag, or sponge, 
(if it is dirty a woolen rag is best), wet in a suds 
made of Castile soap and soft water. As soon as it 
is washed put on the diaper ; now have a piece of 
linen, soft and fine, about four inches square, two 
double, cut a hole through this large enough to receive 
the umbilical cord, grease the under side of the rag 
for about an inch around the hole with tallow or sweet 
oil, now pull the cord through the hole, having the 
greased side come next to the belly; now wrap one 
thickness of the lower part of the linen cloth around 
the cord so as to completely envelop it, turn it up 
and lay it down on the bowels, with the end towards 
the child's head, now put the band around and draw 
it just tight enough to hold the cord in place ; put 
on the balance of the clothes, and put the child in a 
warm place. 

TKEATME1ST OF CHILDEEN. 

In the providence of God, when he provided for 
multiplying and replenishing the earth, he provided 
the natural nourishment for children, and the mother 
will be provided with it just as soon as it is necessary 
for the child. To suppose any thing else is to sup- 
pose that our Creator did not understand his business. 
Many women and nurses, and some doctors, think it 
necessary to add to the plan of the Almighty, and 



TREATMENT OF CHILDREN. 261 

consequently they feed a young child while waiting 
for the mother's " milk to come." Oil, chamber-lye 
and molasses, milk, water and sugar, catnip tea, etc., 
etc., are all wrong. You may put a tea-spoonful of 
water into its mouth, but nothing else, no matter how 
hungry, it will not starve ; wait, wait and let it take 
its first food from its mother, if she can ever nurse it. 
If you want the child to have sore mouth, canker, 
etc., give the above-mentioned remedies ; if you want 
it well and healthy, follow the provision of Provi- 
dence and give nothing. When the child is washed 
and dressed, if it is put where it will be kept warm 
it will keep quiet until its mother can nurse it. If 
the child can not nurse, and it is necessary to bring 
it up with the bottle, it is far better to wait twelve 
to twenty-four hours before feeding it than to feed it 
immediately. If it must have cow's milk, let it be 
from a cow that has lately come in if possible ; but 
sweet cream, one part, water, four parts, and loaf 
sugar, one part, is nearer what its mother could give 
it than cow's milk. 

POSITION OF CHILDREN IN SLEEP. 

It is of no small importance that children should 
sleep in the proper position. They should seldom be 
permitted to sleep on their backs. The fluids secreted 
by the mouth and throat are apt to find their way 
into the air passages, thus impeding breathing and 
arousing the child by a violent fit of coughing. The 



262 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 

bones of a young child's head are very yielding and 
compressible, especially the bone forming the back 
part of the head. This bone is liable to be pushed 
in upon the brain by the weight of the head, if con- 
tinued any length of time, by the child laying upon 
it. This not only causes the head to grow in an 
improper shape, but sometimes produces disease by 
unnatural pressure upon the brain. In children 
having large heads fatal disease has often been pro- 
duced in this way. For three or four months after 
birth the position on the side should be preferred 
during sleep, changing sides often. A child's head 
can be made to grow in almost any shape you please, 
by observing position, and by pressure made with 
the hands. I do not say that a born idiot can be 
changed by this mean into an intelligent child, but 
that children's heads are often permanently deformed 
by neglecting proper attention, in this respect, during 
the first few months of their lives. 

DISEASES OF CHILDREN. 

It has been said by those who have paid attention 
to these things, that, in large towns, at least four out 
of Hive children born die before attaining the age of 
five years ; most of these die, either when teething, or 
from cholera infantum. The last is treated of in 
another place. 



TEETHING. 263 



TEETHING. 



If children were properly cared for, while teething, 
very few would die. Many mothers do not know 
how, and others have so many to care for, that they 
can not give them the attention they otherwise would, 
and which is absolutely necessary for their health and 
comfort. The miserable fashion of dressing children 
is the cause of the premature death of thousands of 
innocents. "Keep the head cool and the feet warm," 
is an old adage, and, if you would have healthy chil- 
dren, you must put it in practice. To take children 
out in cold weather, when grown persons need thick 
woolens and furs to make themselves comfortable, 
with only one thickness of thin gauze over their legs, 
is nothing more or less than child-murder ; yet 
thousands do it ; it is fashionable, and they do not stop 
to count the cost, or, perhaps, even think they are 
endangering their lives. Croup, inflammation of the 
lungs, dropsy of the brain, and death is the result. 

Why swelled and irritated gums should produce tor- 
por of the liver, sickness at the stomach, diarrhoea, con- 
gestion of the brain, etc., is perhaps not fully known ; 
that such are frequently the consequences of cutting 
teeth, is nevertheless a truth. Those who remem- 
ber cutting their " wisdom teeth" can realize something 
of the suffering of children, who are often called cross, 
because they fret and cry when, if a grown person 
suffered as they do, it would generally be fully as. 



264 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

uncomfortable living with them. I believe well chil- 
dren are never fretful or cross, and that they never . 
cry unless there is some good reason for it. 

Some children commence cutting teeth very early, 
say when one month old ; but not generally until 
from four to eight months of age. When their gums 
feel bad, they will show a disposition to bite any hard 
substance that they can get hold of. They should be 
provided with a silver dollar, or an india-rubber ring 
for this purpose. Their gums should be examined 
and rubbed with the finger ; if they are red, hard and 
swollen, they should be cut, every three or four days, 
down to the jawbone, with a sharp, pointed penknife. 
Take the blade of the knife between the thumb and 
finger, covering it completely, except about one-fourth 
of an inch of the end, to prevent cutting the lips ; 
hold the mouth open, plunge the knife boldly down 
to the bone, and make an incision as long as the 
swollen gum. It does not hurt, but feels good; I 
have done it many times, when, just as soon as I 
commenced cutting, the child would lie perfectly quiet 
and look up in my face and laugh. If the stomach 
and bowels are out of order, attend to them at once ; 
do not wait a day for them to get well of themselves. 
Mild treatment, administered now, may save a long 
sickness and many hours of anxious care. If the dis- 
charges from the bowels are light-colored, it shows 
that there is want of action on the part of the liver ; 
if they are dark, it shows an unhealthy action ; if 



TEETHING. 265 

they are slimy and streaked with blood, it shows that 
there is irritation of the bowels, with griping pains. 
Put a mustard plaster over the liver every night ; 
keep it on until it looks red, but do not let it blister ; 
give paregoric and soda, if the bowels are too loose, 
or if the discharges are slimy. Put a table-spoonful 
of soda into two ounces of paregoric, and give from 
ten drops to one or two tea-spoonfuls of this, in a 
little sweetened water, once, twice, three, four, or more 
times per day, or as often as necessary to keep the 
bowels right. The stomach is generally sour ; the 
soda arrests this, and the paregoric quiets the system. 
If the tongue is coated and the child is feverish, give 
a tea-spoonful of quinine bitters, once in two hours, 
in the day time, until relieved. Let the child be wet 
all over, every morning, with salt and water, or 
saleratus and water, or spirits and water, and rubbed 
dry with a coarse towel. Keep the feet warm and 
the head cool. If the discharges from the bowels do 
not become natural, in the course of three or four 
days, take morphine one grain, calomel three grains, 
Turkey rhubarb twenty-four grains ; mix and divide 
into twelve powders, and give one in a little moist 
sugar every night. If the bowels should not be open 
enough, after giving the medicine two or three days, 
give rhubarb syrup in small doses, morning and 
evening, until they are right. 



QQ6 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN*. 



EAEACHE. 



Children (and frequently infants before they can 
talk) are often afflicted with pain in the ear. It is 
caused by a cold. They will cry terribly, you 
examine their clothing to see if a pin pricks them ; 
(by the way, children's clothes should have no pins 
in them, then you would know that they were not 
crying from that cause ; buttons and tape are fully as 
cheap as pins, and there is no necessary article of a 
child's wardrobe that can not better be buttoned or 
tied than toggled up with pins) ; they will toss their 
head, and, if you watch closely, you will see that they 
frequently put their hands to the ear. Warm tobacco 
smoke, blown from a pipe stem, will frequently relieve 
them. Warm a little paregoric, take an equal quan- 
tity of water, pour this into the ear and stop it with 
cotton, or drop a few drops of laudanum on to a bit 
of cotton, previously moistened with sweet oil, and 
put that into the ear ; keep that side of the head 
warm. If the pain continues any length of time, 
matter will form, and after a while it will break and 
run. If this takes place, the child will be liable to 
a return of the complaint every time it takes cold. 
To prevent this, antimonial ointment should be 
rubbed over a place as large as a silver twenty-five 
cent piece, immediately back of and below the ear 
until it produces several pimples. Enough should be 
applied to keep up the irritation for several weeks, 



CONVULSIONS. 267 

until the tendency to gather is removed. If this is 
applied soon enough, after you become satisfied that 
the child is troubled with earache, no matter will be 
formed. 

SOEES BEHIND THE EARS. 

In warm weather children are sometimes troubled 
with sores behind the ears. This comes from not 
being kept washed as clean and as often as they 
should be. Wash them twice each day with Castile 
soap and soft water, and apply the astringents as for 
chafes. 

CONVULSIONS. 

It is no uncommon thing for children to be troubled 
with fits. Any thing that produces irritation of the 
stomach is liable to have that effect. It is very com- 
mon if a child has fever for it to have fits when the 
fever is on. They are frequently caused by eating 
something that will not digest. I once saw a child 
have them most violently, and when I inquired what 
had been eaten to produce them, his mother said, 
"nothing that she knew of." I administered an 
emetic as soon as possible, the child vomited up a 
large quantity of strawberry hulls, and was soon well. 
Worms in the stomach are also a frequent cause. The 
first thing to do when a child has fits is to equalize 
the circulation. To do this, put its feet, or even the 
whole body, except the head, into warm water, and 



268 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

put cold cloths on the head, rub the hands and arms 
in warm spirits. Just as soon as the child can swal 
low give a little stimulant. If you think the proba- 
bility is that they are caused by something eaten, give 
an emetic, the same as prescribed for scarlet fever. 
After this has operated, give a little paregoric and 
soda, or some other light anodyne. If it is the result 
of fever, give immediately some light physic, rhubarb 
syrup, or rhubarb and magnesia, or castor oil ; dose 
according to age, and given once in two hours, until 
it operates ; then give an anodyne. If by worms, 
give what is prescribed for worms. 

DIAEEH03A OF CHILDREN. 

This disease is often caused by the irritation of 
teething, in which case it should be treated as directed 
there. But it is more often caused by imperfect diet, 
or overloading the stomach. Frequently the food 
sours and ferments and passes off in the form of a vio- 
lent diarrhoea, much of the food in an indigested state. 
This is easily cured by one dose or more of paregoric 
and soda, or paregoric and prepared chalk; either 
will correct the acidity of the stomach, and the ano- 
dyne will quiet the excited action of the stomach and 
bowels. It is needless for any family to buy any of 
the hundreds of patent medicines now extant, and it 
is one of the objects of this work to make such pur- 
chases wholly unnecessary. Godfrey's Cordial, Bate- 
man's Drops, the various balsams, panaceas, cordials, 



DIAEEHCEA OF CHILDEEN. 269 

sootliing syrups, teething syrups, etc., etc., that are 
sold and so highly recommended, if they are good for 
any thing, are composed of opium in some form, and 
some anti-acids. Nothing ever has been, or perhaps 
ever will be, compounded that will excel paregoric. 
It is composed of opium, camphor, anise, liquorice, 
honey, or syrup, and bezoin. These make a perfect 
anodyne and anti-wind medicine for children. It only 
lacks some anti-acid to neutralize any acidity in the 
stomach, and it is perfect in its action. It will never 
fail to give as perfect satisfaction as any of the nos- 
trums mentioned, with the following advantages : 
You know just what you are using, just what its 
effects ought to be, and when it is proper to use it. 
If the child's stomach is sour, you can give it with 
some alkali, soda, saleratus, prepared chalk, weak ley, 
or magnesia. It will not cost one-quarter what it 
will to buy those medicines used in its place, pre- 
pared only for the purpose of making money. Chil- 
dren should never be fed on any anodyne for the 
purpose of keeping them quiet, to save care. They 
should never take an anodyne, unless they are in 
actual pain, and then only enough to quiet the 
pain, and only repeated when absolutely necessary. 
The practice of feeding them daily can not be too 
severely reprobated. They will grow up (if they 
live through it) weak, nervous, cadaverous-looking 
specimens of suffering humanity, of no comfort to 
themselves or any body about them. 



270 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 

If a child should be taken with diarrhoea, attended 
with pain and dark-colored, bilious discharges, they 
should not be checked immediately with anodynes 
and astringents, but the patient should first be 
physicked with some mild laxative, either rhubarb 
syrup, or rhubarb and magnesia, mixed together in 
equal parts, the mixture to be given in doses of from 
one to two tea-spoonfuls, according to age ; from one 
to five years, once in four hours till it operates ; then 
give a proper dose of the paregoric and soda, or pre- 
pared chalk ; if the diarrhoea continues, repeat this 
every day until the discharges assume a natural 
color ; if the tongue is coated with a brown or yellow 
coat, commence immediately, and give a child, one 
year old, a teaspoonful ; five years old, two tea-spoon- 
fuls ; twelve years old, a table-spoonful of quinine 
bitters, once in two hours, until the tongue is clean 
and the fever has ceased, giving, in the meantime, 
sufficient anodyne to keep the pain down. 

The diet should be light, but nourishing. 



DYSENTERY OF CHILDREN. 

This is generally the result of neglected or wrongly- 
treated diarrhoea, or it may be caused by a sudden 
cold or eating something that irritates the stomach 
and bowels. It is nothing more or less than inflam- 
mation of the mucous membrane, which lines the 
intestines. The treatment should be prompt and 



DYSENTEKY OF CHILDKEtf. 271 

energetic. It may be distinguished from diarrhoea by 
the discharges being slimy, streaked with blood ; the 
presence in the discharges of small, hard lumps, 
covered with slime, severe pain at every stool, and 
nearly constant tenesmus, a feeling as though the 
bowels must move, but when the attempt is made, 
frequently no discharge, except, perhaps, a few drops 
of slime. If the disease is caused by over-eating of 
some indigestible food, it will often be cured by a full 
dose of paregoric, followed by a dose of Epsom salts 
and magnesia, mixed in equal parts by bulk, and 
given (if to a child from one to three years old) a 
tea-spoonful once in two hours, until it operates, then 
give another dose of paregoric and soda, or prepared 
chalk. 

But if the disease is a "misplaced intermittent," 
i. 0., comes in place of a regular fever, and commences 
like a fever, with cold and heat, aching bones and 
coated tongue, you should commence immediately, as 
in bilious diarrhoea, to give the quinine bitters, once 
in two hours ; dose according to age, same as diarrhoea, 
and, with every dose, give, for a child one year old, 
two drops of laudanum ; two years old, three drops ; 
three years old, three drops, or enough to keep the 
pain quiet, unless it affects the head so much as to 
render the child senseless, in which case the quantity 
should be reduced ; but give some every dose. Every 
other day, give Epsom salts and magnesia, equal parts 
by bulk, mixed, a tea-spoonful of the mixture, once in 



272 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

two hours, for a child one year old ; two tea-spoonfuls 
for a child two years old, until it operates freely. If 
the pain is severe every time the bowels move, give 
immediately an injection of water, cool, but neither 
warm nor very cold. If the laudanum given with 
the bitters does not produce the effect of relieving 
the pain, give, once in four hours immediately after 
stool, an injection of two ounces of slippery elm tea, 
or thin starch-water, with from five to fifteen drops of 
laudanum, according to age and violence of the pain ; 
twice each day, bathe the bowels and back with 
Sedgwick's liniment, and every morning wash the 
patient all over with saleratus water, or spirits and 
water. Be very particular to keep the feet warm 
and the head cool ; if necessary, in order to keep the 
feet warm, put on drafts ; watch the head closely, and 
if it is more than naturally hot, keep cloths on it, 
wrung as dry as possible from ice- water, the object 
being to keep the head cool, not wet. 

Put a mustard plaster over the region of the liver 
every night, but be very careful not to let it blister. 
The only danger in this disease when improperly 
treated is, that it will be translated to the brain. 
Watch carefully ; do not sleep at your post ; if there 
is scantiness of urine, give from ten to thirty drops 
of sweet spirits of nitre, every four hours, until that 
symptom is relieved. 

In all my practice, I never lost a patient with this 
disease, either young or old, and this has been my 



DYSENTEKY OF CHILDBED. 273 

treatment. I think I have a right to speak with 
authority. Giving calomel or mercury, in any form, 
is like putting coals of fire upon raw flesh ; in this 
complaint, the lining of the bowels is completely raw, 
and calomel, coming in contact with it, produces 
ulcers, and if they eat through the intestines death is 
certain ; yet this dreadful remedy is still used in this 
disease by noted members of the medical faculty, 
who treat their patients scientifically, according to 
the books, live or die. If the people could be 
educated, just a little, upon the so-called science of 
medicine, such a course of treatment would be impos- 
sible. 

With every dose of the bitters some nourishment 
should be given ; animal teas are the best, generally, 
but bread, coffee, corn starch, etc., may be given. 
Tea, made of lean beef and mutton, is the best ; not 
a particle of grease should be given. Toast a slice of 
bread nicely (not burn it), put it into a pint bowl r 
put in two table-spoonfuls of loaf sugar, five table- 
spoonfuls of milk, fill the bowl with boiling water, 
cover it closely and let it cool ; give about a table- 
spoonful of this with each dose of bitters, or put a 
table-spoonful of corn meal into a quart of boiling 
water, stir it well, skim it thoroughly, and let it boil 
steadily, one hour, not a minute less (meal can not 
be cooked in less than an hour) ; if it boils down to 
less than half a pint add more water, so that there 
shall be at least half a pint when done ; this may be 
18 



274 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

given for a change, with the beef and mutton tea 
and the bread- water, or then corn-starch gruel, well 
cooked. 

DIPHTHERIA. 

We believe that this disease is caused by precisely 
the same cause as scarlet fever, in fact that they are 
only different manifestations of the same disease. I 
have frequently, since Diphtheria made its appearance, 
seen in the same family, and at the same time, chil- 
dren in whom Diphtheria was the prominent disease, 
membranes plainly formed in the throat, with the 
scarlet rash lightly developed ; and others with the 
rash covering the whole body, the fever raging, and 
the diphtheria membrane lightly developed in the 
throat. The same treatment was used in all with the 
same result. If there are ulcers in the throat, cov- 
ered with a white membrane, the disease is called 
Diphtheria. The throat is more or less swollen, 
according to the violence of the disease. The emetic 
of blue vitriol and ipecac, prescribed for scarlet fever, 
will, if it operates rightly, bring up quantities of the 
game sort of mucous slime, and all the violent symp- 
toms are immediately relieved. The throat should 
from the first be gargled or washed with a swab, from 
one to ten or twelve times daily, with the gargle 
recommended for scarlet fever, and the quinine bit- 
ters must be given from the start. The system is 
more thoroughly charged with blood-poison than it is 



ckoup. 275 

in simple scarlet fever, and it needs bracing up and 
strengthening from the first. Beef tea, or some other 
nourishment, should be given after each dose of bit- 
ters. Follow this course and there is no danger, 
unless croup takes hold, which can be known by the 
peculiar harsh, grating sound of the breathing. In 
this case follow the directions for croup, hope for 
the best, but prepare for the worst, it will be very 
likely to come. But if the case is taken in season, 
there is ver}^ little danger of croup. 

CROUP (CYNANCHE TRACHEALIS, OR TRACHITIs). 

The croup is always to be considered a very dan- 
gerous affection. For the sake of accuracy in descrip- 
tion and treatment, we designate three species, 
Phlegmy Croup, Membranous Croup, and Spasmodic 
Croup. The Phlegmy Croup is the effect of a com- 
mon, pulmonary catarrh, or a common cold, and from 
the onset of the disease there is a cough, attended 
with a very copious and tenacious phlegm, secreted 
in the upper part of the breath-pipe. This viscid 
fluid sometimes increases rapidly, and the air passages 
being obstructed, the little patient is strangled to 
death. This phlegmy croup is generally cured if 
managed rightly. I have often seen the patient resus- 
citated, the phlegm removed, and its life saved, after 
it was thought to be dead. Emetics are indispensa- 
ble. I use generally what I call elixir of ipecac, made 
as follows : Ipecac one drachm, bicarbonate of soda 



276 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

half a drachm, boiling water one gill, a table-spoonful 
of molasses, and half an ounce of paregoric. For a 
child two years old and under, give a tea-spoonful 
once in ten minutes until it vomits. Put the feet and 
legs into water as warm as can be borne by the 
patient, and keep them there thirty minutes or more ; 
give the emetic immediately. If the patient is con- 
siderably relieved by the vomiting, the elixir may be 
given in smaller and nauseating doses, once in two 
hours. If not very much relieved, the vomiting 
should be repeated every hour or two. In the mean 
time apply a mustard plaster, sprinkled over with 
snuff, to the throat and upper part of the chest. 
After the feet are taken out of the water they should 
be kept warm and mustard drafts applied. After 
considerable relief has been obtained a dose of castor 
oil may be given. It sometimes happens, from the 
exhaustion of the patient, or from the stomach being 
coated with the viscid phlegm, that the emetic does 
not operate upon it. I then give some stimulant with 
the emetic to excite the action of the stomach, half a 
tea-spoonful of ether, or of ground mustard seed. 

P. S. 

MEMBKAISTOUS CEOUP. 

Membranous Croup is one of the most severe and 
dangerous diseases that children are liable to. It 
commences generally with a dry and hoarse cough, 
with some roughness of breathing, and a change in 



ckoup. 277 

the voice, with more or less feverislmess. This may 
generally be distinguished from the Phlegmy Croup 
by the cough being dry, and a peculiar ringing sound 
in the first stages of the disease. After the disease 
has continued from ten to fifteen hours, the viscid 
phlegm collects in the throat, the breathing grows 
more and more difficult, it is evident that the air 
passage is diminishing, and the distress and agony of 
the child becomes extreme. 

The treatment in this disease, to be successful, must 
be in the early part of it. A tough membrane is 
formed on the inside of the upper part of the breath- 
pipe. When this is formed and increasing in thickness, 
closing up the passage, the child is in agony,' or has 
passed to a state of stupor, and the case is desperate. 
Begin, therefore, as soon as possible ; put the feet and 
legs up to or above the knees in water, hot as can be 
borne ; give an emetic, elixir of ipecac, a tea-spoonful, 
once in ten minutes until it operates, and continue it 
in less doses and less frequently, so as to keep up a 
nausea and vomiting every hour. Apply a mustard 
plaster, covered with snuff, to the chest, and one to 
the throat. After bathing the extremities half an hour 
or a little more, mustard may be applied to the feet, 
and keep them warm. Hon. W. W. Sedgwick, a 
nephew and pupil of mine, informs me that in very 
bad cases, where the emetic and other treatment men- 
tioned above, seemed to be failing, and the membrane 
forming, he has frequently succeeded by applying ice- 



278 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

cold water, or ice itself, to the throat, frequently 
changing, so as to keep the part cold, with the feet 
and legs in hot water, and continuing the emetic in 
nauseating doses. P. S. 

* 

When the treatment, mentioned by Dr. W. W. S., 
is resorted to, the bath and cold application to the 
throat should be continued as long, and repeated as 
frequently as possible, but ever under the eye either 
of a physician or a good nurse, who understands the 
pulse, and the pulse should be held constantly, and, 
if it grows weak, and at the same time the child looks 
pale, the treatment must stop for a while, and then, 
if necessary, be repeated. 

The theory is, that the cold, applied to the throat, 
stops for the time being the progress of the inflam- 
mation, while -the hot bath promotes the circulation 
in the extremities. If the inflammation can in any 
way be checked for a few hours, the sickening and 
expectorant medicines may produce a separation of 
the membrane, and thus the child be saved. Water 
may be poured upon the throat in a small stream, 
constantly, while the extremities are immersed in the 
bath. 

Spasmodic croup may be distinguished from the 
membranous by its being so unsteady, approaching 
to suffocation, for a few minutes, then relaxing 
almost to perfect ease, thus alternating from distress 



CHOLERA INFANTUM. 279 

to ease. Nervous and weakly persons are most sub- 
ject to it ; children seldom have it. 

It is generally relieved with ether and laudanum. 
A tea-spoonful of ether, with thirty drops of lauda- 
num. The dose may be repeated in one hour, if 
necessary. A tea-spoonful of ether, with a table- 
spoonful of ipecac elixir, is generally a sure cure for 
an adult. P. S. 

CHOLERA INFANTUM. 

The cholera of infants is attended with fever. It 
often commences in a gradual manner, with more or 
less diarrhoea, for several days before the vomiting 
takes place. The duration of this disease is very 
variable. It may prove fatal in a few hours, or it 
may continue for weeks, or even months. The liver 
appears to be inactive in this disease. The evacua- 
tions have no appearance of bilious matter. They 
are whitish and watery, or frothy, and sometimes like 
milk and water, or like rice water. When the disease 
becomes chronic, the vomiting continues occasionally, 
but is not as frequent as in the commencement. The 
fever is generally of the typhus variety. Although 
it may, in some cases, be of the inflammatory variety 
in the beginning, it soon becomes typhus ; the pulse 
is small, irritated and frequent, the countenance pale, 
the eyes dull and sunken, the head warm and the 
extremities cold. 



,i, 



280 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



TREATMENT. 



Equalize the circulation ; if the feet are cold, warm 
them ; if the head is hot, cool it ; if the stomach is 
irritable and the skin dry and torpid, counteract this 
irritability by friction, stimulating liniments, or mus- 
tard poultices. A good stimulating liniment is made 
of equal parts spirits of turpentine and aqua ammo- 
nia. If the child is seen in the first part of the 
attack, and the fever is of the inflammatory variety, 
give half a tea-spoonful of magnesia in a little milk 
and water; if this is vomited, give another dose 
immediately. In two hours after the magnesia is 
kept down, give a tea-spoonful of castor oil, with 
twenty drops of paregoric, in a little sweetened water. 
Repeat this, once in six hours, until it operates. 
Quinine is the sheet-anchor of hope. Take fifteen 
grains of quinine, two table-spoonfuls of good French 
brandy, two table-spoonfuls of loaf sugar, and one 
tea- spoonful of laudanum ; shake them together until 
the quinine is dissolved ; add twelve table-spoonfuls 
of water. Give a child, two years old, a tea-spoonful 
once in two hours, until the symptoms are abated. 
If the disease yields soon, the quinine syrup may be 
diminished, first, by giving it only in the day time, 
then once in three hours, and, finally, three times a 
day, until health is completely restored. When the 
torpor of the liver is very obstinate and bile is not 
restored to the discharge by the use of the quinine, 



CHOLERA INFANTUM. 281 

for two or three days, it will be well to add to the 
half pint of quinine syrup a little beef's gall, say 
half a tea-spoonful. In obstinate and protracted 
cases, we may use, in connection with the above, the 
following powders: take blue vitriol, two grains; 
opium, three grains; prepared chalk, seventy-two 
grains ; pulverize and mix thoroughly ; make thirty- 
six powders; give one twice a day. Through the 
whole treatment, the bowels should be moved once in 
two days, with some preparation of rhubarb and 
magnesia. The diet should be light and nourishing, 
given often, a little at a time ; beef-tea, chicken-tea, 
milk-porridge, thoroughly cooked, arrow root, corn- 
starch, etc., rice boiled in chicken-tea is very good. 

P. S. 

This is one of the most fatal diseases in the coun- 
try ; it is thought that, in our large towns and cities, 
one half of the children born die before they arrive 
at the age of five years with this disease. There is 
no need of this ; none will die if the disease is taken 
in season, and properly managed. Keep strict watch 
of your children in the summer and fall; if they are 
taken with a diarrhoea, with light colored discharges, 
commence immediately ; put a mustard plaster over 
the liver every night; see that the feet are kept 
warm ; use friction over the whole body ; give pare- 
goric and soda, or prepared chalk, enough to check 
the discharges; do not waste more than one day 



282 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

before you commence the quinine bitters. I would 
put the beef's gall into the powders rather than the 
bitters or syrup, say dried gall, half an even tea- 
spoonful ; blue vitriol, two grains ; opium, three 
grains ; prepared chalk, seventy-two grains ; mix 
thoroughly, and make thirty-six pills, or powders, 
and give one, morning and evening, covered in moist 
sugar, or something of the sort. There is science in 
this treatment ; the gall takes the place of healthy 
bile, the blue vitriol acts powerfully on the stomach, 
as an alterative, and the opium as an anodyne ; you 
will not find it in any book, or prescribed by any 
physician. Nearly all the faculty use mercury in 
some form to act upon the liver, and every dose is so 
much death. There is no bile secreted, and calomel 
will not make it. The system must be braced up, 
the place of bile supported, until the liver resumes 
its action. 

FALLS, BLOWS AND HTTKTS ON THE HEAD IN CHILDREN. 

Providence in creating the human form protected 
the fore part of the head from danger of blows in 
front, by making the skull double where the blow 
would be most likely to fall. But children some- 
times receive blows upon the side and back of the 
head. These are always dangerous, and when they 
are severe enough to cause sickness, the result is death. 
In a constant practice of over twenty years, I never 
knew a child to recover when sick in consequence of 



FALLS, BLOWS, ETC. 283 

a blow upon the head. Of course the blow must be 
severe enough to cause a bruise of the brain, in order 
to have any constitutional effect upon the child. 
When a child falls and hurts its head enough so that 
it looks pale and appears to feel faint, there is dan- 
ger. The place where the blow fell should be kept 
constantly wet with cold water, the child should have 
mild physic, and if the part is swollen much, cups 
and leeches should be applied. See that the bowels 
are regular, and the water is free. If a child receives 
a severe blow upon the side or back of the head, it 
is the part of prudence to send for a good physician 
of large experience. About ten or twelve years ago 
I was called to .see a fine boy about two years old. 
I found him playing about the house. His mother 
said she did not know but I would think it was foolish 
to send for me, but it was their only boy, and he did 
not have much appetite, and looked pale, and she 
thought best to have something done for him. I 
called the boy to me, took him into my arms, exam- 
ined him closely; his countenance was of a pale, 
bluish appearance, and his forehead had the " horse- 
shoe mark" plainly; his secretions were out of order, 
his food did not digest well, and his water was scant ; 
he tried to play some, but was soon tired out. I mis- 
trusted he had had a fall and hurt his head, and 
inquired if such was the fact. His mother said, " no, 
not as she knew of." His grandfather was present, 
and immediately told me that he was hurt severely 



284 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

on the back of his head some three weeks before. A 
heavy door had blown violently against his head, 
knocking him prostrate ; he himself had seen it and 
picked him up. The boy, he said, nearly fainted 
away, and looked very pale all the remainder of the 
day, and he believed had not been well since. I told 
his mother it was a serious case, and that, if he was 
not much better within twenty-four hours, there would 
be no help for him, and I had no idea that he would 
be. She was astonished and distressed ; told me to 
come and see him surely the next morning. The next 
morning I called and informed her that there was no 
improvement. " You think he will die, then ? " "I 
do ; no earthly power can prevent it. I hope you 
will send for other physicians, for I do not desire the 
responsibility." Two old, experienced physicians 
were called. They expressed some hope. I told 
them I had none, and wished them to prescribe, and 
I would follow their prescriptions to the letter. He 
was given " alterative powders," castor oil for physic, 
quinine as a tonic, mustard over the liver and on his 
feet and legs, spirits nitre, blisters on his ankles, etc., 
etc. He gradually failed ; in two days he had par- 
oxysms of severe pain, which his mother insisted were 
in his bowels ; these grew more severe and more fre- 
quent, and in six days he was dead. His mother 
declared that I had killed him, that I said he would 
die, and I was determined he should, and that she 
never would employ me again. The next year she 



WEANING INFANTS. 285 

moved into Chicago. When the warm weather came 
on in the spring she was taken with diarrhoea. She 
employed one of the best physicians in Chicago, but 
he gave her no relief. She then applied to one of 
the professors of Rush Medical College ; he thought 
he could cure her, and gave a prescription ; she con- 
tinued to fail under his treatment. It was now the 
middle of August, and she concluded to come out to 

B and try the doctor who told her the truth 

about her boy. She came and called for me, told me 
just how she had been, and how many doctors she had 
employed, and how much medicine she had taken, 
and asked if I thought I could cure her. I told her 
if she would follow my directions she would be well 
in four weeks. I gave her the diarrhoea pills, com- 
posed of sulphate of copper and opium, and cascarilla 
bitters, prepared with port wine instead of spirits; 
told her to bathe her bowels in Sedgwick's Liniment. 
In one week she had no diarrhoea, but did have a 
good appetite. In four weeks she returned to Chi- 
cago, weighing twenty pounds more than she did 
when she came out. The next season she was taken 
again, but this time she sent immediately to me for 
medicine, and was soon cured. 

ON WEANING INFANTS. 

We can not fix the age at which infants should 
invariably be weaned, but it should not be suddenly 
done. The child should be prepared for the change 



286 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

by gradually being accustomed to common, whole- 
some food. After the child is five months old, let it 
be fed with some suitable food once or twice a day 
at first, and afterwards oftener, so that it becomes 
weaned from the breast in the day time, and only has 
it in the night as it approaches the time of complete 
weaning. The proper age for this depends on many 
circumstances. Many women have not constitution 
or native vigor to nurse a child over nine months. 
The health of both mother and child begins to fail, 
and, if continued, rapid decline follows. Some are 
not able to nurse a child at all, and if attempted, will 
be taken with sore mouth and perhaps a breaking 
and other marks of decline, and if persisted in, the 
mother or child, or both, will surely die. Again, 
there are some women of robust and vigorous health 
who can nurse a boy until he is ashamed to go to his 
mother's breast for sustenance. Some celebrated 
physicians say no woman should nurse a child over 
nine months. Some English physicians advise to 
wean the child as soon as it has teeth. And it is a 
common practice in some localities in England to 
wean a child at five months old, and they, it is said, 
make the most hardy and robust people. As a gen- 
eral rule a child should not be nursed over ten or 
twelve months at most. But a child should not be 
weaned when it is cutting teeth, or when it is sick, 
unless its sickness is occasioned by the unhealthiness 
of the mother's milk. Very hot weather, or very 



WEANING INFANTS. 287 

cold, is not the best time to wean a child. When a 
child is weaned it should be fed regularly, about 
once in three hours through the day. Good light 
bread that is a day old, and milk, is the best food. 
Sago, arrow root, milk porridge, beef tea, etc., may be 
given. Pastry, cakes, and fruits, should be avoided. 



CHAPTEE XV. 

DROPSY. 

Dropsy is an unnatural collection of water in or 
about any particular organ or cavity in the human 
system, or it may be generally diffused about or over 
the whole body, or at least wherever there is cellular 
tissue to hold the water collected. There are differ- 
ent technical names for the various places where the 
disease locates itself. It is generally the result of a 
badly treated fever, scarlet fever in particular, or it 
may result from debility or want of vital force in the 
system, the laws of nature being so disarranged that 
the absorbent vessels do not perform their legitimate 
office, consequently water collects and remains in the 
cells. You will frequently see the feet and legs of a 
person bloated, who has been long sick and confined 
to the bed. When you can, with your finger, make 
a dent in the flesh that will remain for some time 
and slowly disappear, it is pretty sure that dropsy 
exists in that part. Dropsy of the brain is the result 
of inflammation of that organ. Dropsy may also 
occur in the chest, and gradually increase until the 
lungs are drowned ; so also of the heart, and in both 
of these cases they produce more or less difficulty of 



DKOPSY. 289 

breathing, which is increased to a sense of suffocation 
upon lying down, and the patient will be obliged to 
sleep in a sitting posture. Dropsy of the bowels is a 
gradual filling up of the cavity of the abdomen, so 
that often it contains several gallons of water ; some- 
times tapping is resorted to, and enormous quantities 
are drawn away, but generally it collects again and 
again. General dropsy commences with bloating of 
the feet, which gradually extends upward, until the 
whole system is affected, or death ensues. It may be 
known by the swelling and by the scantiness of urine, 
which exists in every case of this disease. The way 
to affect a cure is to increase the flow of urine and 
give new tone and action to the general system. 
Diuretics, tonics and alteratives, with bathing the 
skin in stimulants, and irritating it by brushing with 
a coarse towel or flesh brush. The following mixture 
has had a wonderful effect for good in numerous cases 
that have come under my observation : 

Copperas, two scruples. 
Saleratus, two scruples. 
Spirits nitre, half an ounce. 
Squills, half an ounce. 
Laudanum, seventy drops. 
Essence wintergreen, half an ounce. 
Tincture cantharides, half an ounce. 
Dose — A table-spoonful morning and evening. 

At the same time, take cascarilla bitters three 
times a day, before eating, and be careful to keep the 
19 



29* THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

bowels open with some mild laxative that will not 
produce debility; corrective pills, or rhubarb syrup, 
in doses sufficient to produce the effect. Bandaging 
the feet and legs, day times, taking the bandages off 
at bed time, is very useful when the feet and legs are 
troubled with much swelling or bloating. Also, 
three grains of iodide of potassium, three times per 
day, half an hour before meals, to be taken fifteen 
days, then omitted for fifteen days, and then re- 
peated. This course has cured many cases after 
having been given up by good physicians. 



SYPHILIS, OR VENEREAL DISEASE. 

Cause, impure sexual connexion. It exists in the 
form of gonorrhoea, chancre, bubo, and the secondary 
or constitutional sore throat, pains in the joints, 
swelling of the bones, etc. For the chancre, apply 
alterative wash No. 2 two or three times a day. If 
the sores be very irritable or painful, keep the parts 
wet with spirits and water, or lead-water, between 
the applications of the alterative wash. For this and 
all other forms of the disease, take a blue pill every 
other night, and magnesia and salts, an equal bulk of 
each, two tea-spoonfuls the next morning after taking 
the blue pill. If the stomach and bowels are weak, 
or if diarrhoea exist, magnesia and rhubarb may be 
substituted for the magnesia and salts, at least a part 
of the time. After continuing this treatment two 



HINTS TO PARENTS. 291 

or three weeks, make a sarsaparilla syrup. Take 
English sarsaparilla-root six ounces, rasped guaicum 
wood three ounces, bruise the root, put them in four 
quarts of water in a covered vessel, simmer four 
hours, and have two quarts when done, strain, add 
four grains of corrosive sublimate, one pound of 
sugar, and one pint of spirits. Take a wine-glassful 
three times a day, an hour before meals. While 
taking this syrup, keep the bowels in regular motion, 
by taking corrective pills, or rhubarb and magnesia, 
at bed time, when the bowels have not moved within 
twenty-four hours, enough to move the bowels in the 
course of the next day. When gleet or gonorrhoea is 
the principal symptom, a mixture of balsam copaiva 
and spirits of nitre, equal parts of each, may be taken 
a tea-spoonful three times a day, an hour after meals. 
If the appetite fails, or the stomach is weak, take 
bitters, an infusion of quassia wood or chamomile 
flowers three times a day, before meals. If periodical 
headache or fever exist take quinine bitters. Avoid 
fat or salt meats. Let the diet be regular, and mild 
vegetable and milk. A weak solution of corrosive 
sublimate, two grains to the ounce, for an injection in 
gonorrhoea, will sometimes be proper. P. S. 

HINTS TO PARENTS. 

Parents are responsible, in a large degree, for the 
future of their children. How important, then, that 
they should teach them the truth. Twenty years 



292 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ago, yon would not find one child out of twenty 
fifteen years old who knew any more about their 
existence, only that God made them, and that some 
of the neighboring ladies or the doctor brought their 
baby brother or sister. How many thousands of 
thousands of young persons have been ruined and 
brought to a premature and dishonored grave on 
account of the failure of their parents to give them 
proper instructions in reference to themselves and 
secret evil habits. They will take special care to 
keep them from the society of those they think will 
lead them into these habits, but never give them one 
word of warning. Far better would it be to point 
them to the Bible history and curse pronounced upon 
the sin of onanism, and inform them what it is, than 
to hope they may never learn these evil habits. 
You see your child becoming fretful, feverish, pale, 
avoiding society, becoming sallow, emaciated, loses 
memory, verging towards the grave, before you 
understand the cause, and too late you have learned 
that by your neglect to do a solemn duty you 
allowed "your child to form habits that soon will end 
in death. 

Find some way of teaching your children the 
terrible consequences of secret, disgusting habits. 
Learn them that of all sins, licentiousness and 
lewdness are, at least, as necessary to be avoided as 
murder and suicide. 



SUN-STKOKE. 293 



STO-STKOKE. 

As I write this article in July, 1868, with the mer- 
cury at 100° in the shade, it seems natural to under- 
stand something of the meaning of the word. We 
have but to stand a few moments in the broiling sun 
to appreciate its power. And we only wonder that 
more persons do not fall victims to this deadly 
stroke. 

The mode of operation, or the precise way in which 
the terrible heat operates upon the system to produce 
death, is not known. When it is, we may be able to 
combat it with better hopes of success. One of the 
daily papers of Chicago, of July 18th, reported over 
one hundred cases of sun-stroke, about half of which 
proved fatal. Severe and fatal cases come on sud- 
denly, probably without any warning. Those cases 
which are less powerful, and where the patient sur- 
vives, report their feelings as a sudden faintness and 
trembling, commencing at the stomach, and extend- 
ing quickly over the whole body, with more or less 
loss immediately of consciousness, without any pain. 

I have seen several cases that came very near being 
sun-stroke, but only two where the patient was com- 
pletely overcome. These were both Germans who 
had been but a few days in the country, and it was 
in 1854, in July. The weather had been hot, about 
90° in the shade, for several days. They were at 
work in the hay-field; neither of them had been 



294 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

doing any work for two months previous, being on 
their passage from Germany to Illinois. One of them 
fell down suddenly in the hay-field, about two hours 
after he commenced work. He was working for a 
German who resided about two miles from me. It 
was little more than an hour from the time he was 
attacked until I saw him. They had brought him 
from the field and laid him down in the shade of the 
house. I found him perfectly senseless and motion- 
less, his pulse about forty in a minute, and weak, his 
breathing labored and heavy, his head very hot, his 
body warm and dry. I directed cold applications to 
his head, and had them rub his feet, hands, legs, and 
arms ; corded his arm and tried to bleed him ; his 
blood was so thick that it would not run. I tried to 
get him to swallow a little stimulant, but could not. 
His pulse grew weaker and more frequent for about 
an hour, when it became a line under the finger, and 
he breathed his last. His head was hot for several 
hours after death, and some time after his body was 
cold. The other case was much the same, only that 
the pulse was about natural, and the patient groaned 
and appeared to have a little sense, but could not 
move. He was treated in the same way. I saw him 
within fifteen minutes after he was taken. In about 
twenty minutes after we commenced the cold appli- 
cations to his head and rubbing his extremities, he 
was able to swallow, and I gave him a little brandy 
and water. I did not try to bleed this one, but put 



smsr-STEOKE. 295 

a strong mustard poultice on his stomach. In two 
or three hours he was about, and commenced work 
the next day. In about a week he had another 
attack, and recovered in the same way. 

So far as my experience is concerned, sun-stroke has 
attacked those who had not been in the habit of 
laboring in the sun for some time. Those who have 
worked steadily can expose themselves with impunity, 
where persons unused to severe exercise would be 
stricken down. 

It is the part of wisdom for every person who is 
obliged to labor under the sun's rays in hot weather 
to guard against this terrible stroke. This can easily 
be done by keeping the head cool, and by working or 
exercising slowly until the system becomes hardened. 
When the thermometer is about 75 or 80° in the 
shade, every person exercising severely while exposed 
to the sun, should place some sort of green leaves, or 
a cloth wet in cold water, in his hat, and not drink 
large quantities of cold water when heated. No per- 
son has any right to expose life by disregarding these 
instructions. When a person is attacked they should 
be placed in a cool position in the shade, with the 
head raised, and cold applications constantly applied, 
the feet and hands should be warmed, the arms and 
legs, and also the body, thoroughly rubbed in hot 
spirits and water, with cayenne pepper added. A 
strong mustard plaster should be applied to the stom- 
ach. Just as soon as the patient can swallow, give a 



296 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

little spirits and water, hot. When reaction has taken 
place, if the pulse is full and corded, a very small 
quantity of blood may be taken, or cups may be 
applied on the back of the neck. This might be 
done while the patient is still unconscious. 

The treatment should be immediate, thorough, and 
energetic ; time is every thing. I have lately heard 
of a patient who was given up by the physician, but 
was left with his head laying upon ice, and in a few 
hours he became conscious, and soon recovered. 
Never give up a patient until the breath leaves the 
body. 



CHAPTER XVI 

WOKMS. 

The cause or origin of worms in the stomach and 
bowels has, as yet, never been known or explained, 
and it is very likely never will. It is, perhaps, 
sufficient for our purpose to know that they exist at 
times, and it is supposed that a sedentary and inac- 
tive life, the abundant use of fat, and fruit of various 
kinds, the use of more food than the stomach can 
digest, are among the predisposing causes. There 
are five distinct species of intestinal worms. First, 
" The long thread worm " is from an inch and a half 
to two inches long, about two-thirds of its length is 
almost as small as a horse hair, the remaining or 
posterior part being considerably larger, and termin- 
ating in a round or blunt extremity. These worms 
are not generally numerous, and are principally found 
in the blind gut. 

Second, The maw or thread worm. These are 
very small, white worms, being from one-sixth to 
nearly half an inch in length, with a blunt anterior 
and tapering to a point, posteriorly, resembling the 
point of the finest needle. 

These worms are found in the large intestines, and 



298 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

are generally confined to the lower part of the 
rectum, where they are often ' collected in countless 
numbers, producing the most intense smarting, itch- 
ing and burning sensation. The best way to remove 
them is by injections of a solution of aloes, worm- 
wood, or other bitter infusions. This should be done 
once in two or three days until the symptoms of 
itching and smarting are entirely removed. 

Third, Lumbricii. These worms are from two 
to twelve or fifteen inches long, round, and of a 
yellowish- white or brownish red color, of nearly uni- 
form thickness, except the extremities, which taper to 
a blunt point. They are from one-sixth to three- 
eighths of an inch thick. These worms inhabit the 
small intestines, and sometimes ascend into the 
stomach. This is the species that generally trouble 
children, and which, by using the proper remedies, 
are expelled in large numbers. 

Fourth, Tape-worm. This worm often acquires 
a great, length, from thirty to forty feet or more ; it 
is from one-third to three-fourths of an inch in 
breadth, flat, white, and composed of a series of joints, 
resembling pieces of white tape folded. The head 
is armed with two processes, by which the worm 
attaches itself to the intestines. It inhabits the upper 
portion of the bowels and the stomach. 

Fifth, Long tape- worm. This worm has an almost 
hemispherical, distinct head, an obtuse beak, the neck 
full in front, all the joints slightly obtuse, the anterior 



WOKM SYMPTOMS. 299 

very short, the next almost square, and the rest 
oblong. It is commonly a few feet long ; sometimes 
its length is enormous, as much as six hundred feet 
long ; it is not common. It inhabits the small intes- 
tines. The oil of turpentine, in some form, and in 
large quantities, is, perhaps, the best remedy. This 
worm is sometimes passed off in joints, often in 
pieces twenty feet or more in length. 

Symptoms — Countenance pale, livid and colored, 
with transient flushes, eyes dull, pupils dilated, bluish 
semi-circle around the lower eye lids, tickling and 
itching of the nose, swelled upper lip, headache, 
humming in the ears, copious secretion of saliva, 
tongue slimy and furred, breath foul, appetite vari- 
able, sometimes voracious, at others wholly gone, 
transient pains in the stomach and bowels, occasional 
sickness at stomach, and frequent vomiting, frequent 
slimy stools, or costiveness, urine thick, yellowish or 
milky, abdomen bloated and hard, with emaciation 
of other parts of the body, lassitude, irritability of 
temper, spasms, fits, convulsions, and grating the 
teeth. It must be understood, however, that all of 
these symptoms may exist without a worm being 
present in the system. Anything that would pro- 
duce irritation of the stomach and bowels would pro- 
duce all these symptoms, or, on the other hand, a 
patient might have worms and very few of these 
symptoms be present. The only way you can know 



300 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

certainly that worms are troubling any patient is to 
see the worms. 

It has been maintained by some medical writers 
that worms are harmless inmates of the intestinal 
canal. This is undoubtedly incorrect ; worms are 
not productive of health, and should not be suffered 
to remain in the system. 

They are often the exciting cause of dangerous 
affections, as St. Vitus' Dance, epilepsy, convulsions, 
paralysis, fevers, dropsy, etc. These and other dis- 
eases, often, speedily disappear after quantities of 
worms have been expelled. If a child has the above 
symptoms, he should be immediately treated for 
worms; he is not well, and the remedies used for 
worms are generally such as would be proper for 
any cause that produce irritation of the stomach and 
bowels. Numerous cases are on record where per- 
sons have been cured of insanity by the expulsion of 
large numbers of worms from the intestines by the 
proper medicines. 

Treatment. — For those small worms which infest 
the lower part of the rectum, the treatment has been 
already given. For the common, large worms it is 
best to prepare the patient for the proper remedy by 
a low diet for two or three days, and at the same 
time, by keeping the bowels open with mild laxative 
medicines, given every night at bed time, a small dose 
of Epsom salts and magnesia, or salts and senna. 
On the fourth morning take an ounce of pink-root, 



WOKMS. 301 

pour upon it one pint of boiling water, boil it down 
to half a pint, sweeten it very sweet, and let it be 
drank in the course of three or four hours, by a child 
from five to ten years old, commencing in the morn- 
ing, taking no food previously, except a little milk 
and water. As soon as the whole of the decoction 
has been taken, a dose of castor oil and turpentine 
should be administered, say half an ounce of oil to 
two drachms of turpentine, for a child four or five 
years old, and double the quantity for a child twelve 
years old. The above remedy is perfectly safe, and 
will succeed in expelling worms in ninety-nine cases 
out of every hundred, where they actually exist in the 
system. Every old lady has a remedy for worms, as 
well as for numerous other diseases to which children 
are subject. Some of them are safe and some are not. 
There are also scores of patent medicines advertised 
as sure death for worms ; and some of them, if per- 
severed in, are also as sure death for children. As a 
rule, intelligent persons will avoid patent medicines, 
particularly those whose composition is kept a secret. 
You need never buy patent worm medicines, even if 
known to be good, for you can procure the desired 
result, as here directed, at one-quarter the expense. 

Another good way to expel worms is as follows : 
Prepare the patient as before directed. Take a roll 
of brimstone to a blacksmith, have him heat a nail- 
rod to a white heat, hold the hot nail-rod and the 
brimstone together over a pail of clean water; the 



302 THE HOUSE WE LIVE LN". 

iron and brimstone will mix, and in the bottom of 
the pail will be found dark, iron-colored balls of vari- 
ous shapes and sizes ; pick these out, carefully separ- 
ating them from the particles of melted brimstone ; 
when dry pulverize them as fine as flour ; give to a 
child from five to ten years old half a tea-spoonful of 
this powder every night for three nights ; the morn- 
ing of the fourth day give the oil and turpentine, as 
in the first prescription. If you do not succeed in 
bringing away worms, and the symptoms continue to 
indicate worms, repeat the operation once each week 
for three weeks. I have never known this remedy to 
fail where I had reason to believe worms were present 
in the system. 

After the worms have been expelled from the sys- 
tem, it is very desirable to prevent their reproduc- 
tion. For this purpose use the following mixture : 
Aloes, rhubarb, ginger, of each half an ounce, gum 
myrrh, two drachms ; let all be well pulverized and 
put to half pint of pure spirits, half pint of syrup or 
molasses, and half pint of water; shake them 
thoroughly together every day for a week. Give a 
child as much of this as will be borne without operat- 
ing severely as a cathartic, twice the first week, once 
the second week, then again once the next two weeks, 
after that once each month, and they will never be 
troubled with worms as long as this is continued. 
Probably a child live years old will bear half a tea- 
spoonful ; you can tell by trying. The object is to give 



"WORMS. 303 

just enough to operate very mildly upon the bowels, 
not as a physic, but just to relax a little. I have 
known several persons, who have raised large families 
of children, to keep this preparation constantly on 
hand, and once a month, in the morning, call all the 
family around and give each one a proper dose. I 
never knew a child who was thus medicated to be 
troubled with worms. It is also a very effective pre- 
ventive of bilious fever and many other diseases to 
which residents of this climate are subject. "An 
ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure." 
Try this, and be troubled no more with worms in 
children. 

For the two species of tape worms, as many different 
remedies are prescribed as there have been different 
writers upon the subject. I believe nothing will be 
more likely to effect the object than the brimstone 
and iron remedy, given in double the doses prescribed 
for the round worm, and continued for ten or twelve 
days at a time, the patient at the same time drinking 
large quantities of strong sage tea, well sweetened, 
taking a low, liquid diet, and every third day giving 
large doses of castor oil and turpentine. Pomegranate 
root has been highly recommended. Two ounces of 
the fresh root should be sliced finely and slowly sim- 
mered in a pint of water down to a half pint. Of 
this decoction one-third must be taken in the morn- 
ing, on an empty stomach, and another third every 
two hours. If this does not expel the worm, the 



304 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

same is to be repeated next day, and so on. The 
diet should be liquid, and an active purgative taken 
after every third potion. 

SCUEVY. 

It is only about two hundred years since this dis 
ease has attracted the attention of the medical world , 
soon after it had a name and place in medical works. 
Gout, rheumatism, hypochondriasis, and nearly all 
affections of the skin, were ascribed to scurvy in the 
blood. This idea did much harm, and was long 
since exploded, and now the term is restricted to one 
form of disease, which is supposed to be caused by 
an unhealthy condition of the blood, caused by want 
of proper diet. Consequently it is seldom seen 
except at sea, or in the army, where the patients have 
been confined for a long time to a diet of salted 
food, and have been obliged to undergo physical 
hardships. 

This disease commences with a feeling of lassitude 
and want of energy, stiffness of the feet and knees, 
depressed spirits, horror of any physical exertion ; 
breathing short, and panting on the least bodily exer- 
tion; countenance pale, sallow, or lead-colored, and 
bloated in appearance ; skin dry, tense, and shining, 
and separates in small scales on different parts of the 
body. Sooner or later brown or livid spots appear, 
first on the legs, then on the thighs, and last on the 
arms and abdomen, but very seldom on the face ; the 



SCUEVY. 305 

feet and legs become swollen, and in hot climates 
severe dropsical effusions take place, without the 
blotches described; the breath becomes bad, the 
gums tender and spongy, bleed easily when touched, 
putrid taste in the mouth, strong desire for fresh vege- 
table food and acids ; the sight becomes more or less 
impaired, and the patient can scarcely sit upright; 
the blood becomes thick and dark-colored, the pulse 
weak and soft. As the disease goes on the joints 
become stiff, muscles become hardened, pains in the 
thighs and loins become severe, the same in the back 
and knees ; severe pains in the bowels, and constipa- 
tion ; blood runs from the gums, nose, rectum, and 
bladder ; ulcers appear on the calves of the legs and 
thighs ; the gums separate from the teeth, and after- 
wards the teeth drop out. If the disease continues 
unchecked, extreme prostration ensues, breathing 
becomes more and more fatiguing and oppressed, the 
patient fainting, even while at rest, or by turning 
himself ni bed ; a fetid effluvium exhales from the 
body, emaciation goes on rapidly, and sometimes the 
extremities become paralyzed ; dropsy, diarrhoea, dys- 
entery, and finally an exhausting, irritating fever, or 
convulsions, close the scene. Having never seen a 
case of scurvy, I am indebted to medical books for 
the above symptoms. Many cases were reported in. 
our army during the late war, but I apprehend cases 
on land seldom if ever assume the type described, and 
20 



306 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

they yield readily to the proper treatment, which is 
mainly a correct diet. 

The patient should use fresh vegetables and animal 
food, and acid drinks, lemon juice, vinegar, horse- 
radish, garden cresses, water cresses, onions, garlic, 
oranges, mustard, etc. Sour-kraut is said to be the 
best of all. Medicines will seldom be needed, if the 
proper diet can be had ; but any bitter tonic would 
be beneficial if the patient was very much reduced in 
strength. 

ULCERS. 

I have generally treated old ulcers by what is called 
the Baynton mode. Wash the sore clean with suds 
of Castile soap and soft water; if on the leg, wash 
the whole limb, and wipe it dry. Wet the sore with 
alterative wash No. 1 or 2, according to the condition 
of the sore ; if it be torpid and indolent, I more fre- 
quently use No. 2 ; if it be irritable, No. 1. Sometimes 
alternate from one to the other. Frequently a soft 
cloth is wet in the wash, large enough to cover the 
sore. If the sore is discharging much, especially if 
the discharge is a healthy purulent discharge, I 
simply lay on over the sore a handful of dry lint. 
Next, I have adhesive plasters prepared, about two 
inches wide, and long enough to go around the leg 
and lap over six inches. I then begin an inch or 
two below the sore, apply the middle of the plaster 
to the leg behind, draw first one end over the sore 



ULCEKS. 307 

snugly, so as to adhere to the skin all around, then 
draw round the other end, lapping it on to the first 
end. Then apply the second plaster in the same 
way, letting it lap a little on the first plaster, and so 
on, applying the plasters till they reach an inch or 
two above the sore. Above all, apply the bandage, 
which is a roller, two inches wide and eight or ten 
yards long, snugly rolled up. It requires some prac- 
tice to apply this nicely. It should be so applied 
that the pressure will be equal through the whole 
limb, or rather, if any thing, a little tighter at the 
toes and lower extremity of the limbs. I generally 
commence at the ancle, make the bandage fast there, 
then continue it to the toes, making the circuit 
around the foot in such a way that it will lie smooth 
to the limb, then extend it up over the heel and over 
the calf of the leg, letting it run, as it must, to lie 
smooth. Then from the top wind it down, lapping 
each turn about one-third back to the toes. In ulcers 
from varicose veins, apply cloths soaked in strong 
astringents, sometimes alum water, sometimes infu- 
sions of oak bark, etc. Apply the plasters, and 
bandage over. When the veins are pressed out with 
blood, they should be opened, and let out the blood 
before applying the dressings. Attend to the general 
health. P. S. 



308 THE HOUSE WE LIVE m. 



PILES. 



Piles are the result of various causes, both general 
and local ; they are sometimes brought on suddenly 
by a violent strain, by lifting, or by any other severe 
and violent exercise ; they are often caused by a con- 
stipation of the bowels, and also by diarrhoea, long 
continued, which weakens the parts, and being thus 
relaxed, they protrude and form a tumor which, 
sometimes, becomes inflamed, swollen, and very pain- 
ful. In this condition the sphincter sometimes 
becomes a tight cord about the neck of the tumor, 
which prevents circulation, and the protruded part 
mortifies and sloughs off. There are also what are 
called blind piles, which are a relaxing and swelling 
of the inside of the rectum, forming a tumor which 
can be felt, but not seen ; this often bleeds, and the 
disease is then called bleeding piles. 

Treatment. — When the intestine comes down, the 
patient should lie down, oil the fingers, and attempt 
to place it in its proper position. ~No one can do 
this so well as the patient, and, if it is done before 
the part becomes inflamed and swollen, it is com- 
paratively easy. If "it can not readily be done then, 
cloths, wet in cold water, should be applied, par- 
ticularly if there is inflammation ; these should be con- 
tinued until the soreness subsides, when astringents 
should be used. An ointment made by mixing one 
part of pulverized nut galls to -five parts of lard is a 



PILES. 309 

very good application. After the intestine has been 
restored to its proper place, a compress should be 
placed over the part and held tightly in place, by 
means of bandages passing over it, and fastened to a 
band around the body ; at least once each day a sitz 
bath should be taken in cold water, in which has 
been thrown a handful of common salt. A little of 
this ointment should be inserted once each day. If, 
when first attacked, the patient will lie by a few 
days and pursue this treatment, a permanent cure 
will be the result. If caused by diarrhoea, of course 
that complaint should be attended to, and the same 
is true if caused by constipation ; in the last case 
the bowels should be kept loose by sulphur and 
cream-tartar, mixed in equal portions, and taken every 
other night, from one to four tea-spoonfuls, or enough 
to operate mildly the next day. 

In blind or bleeding piles, the case should be sub- 
mitted to a good surgeon, as serious results may occur, 
if they are not properly treated, and piles might be 
mistaken for a tumor of a very different nature, which 
might need the immediate attention of a skillful sur- 
geon. They are also often removed by the knife, or 
more generally by a ligature ; however, the cold bath 
and the ointment may be used with decided benefit 
in cases of blind piles. Sedgwick's liniment has 
been used in numerous cases of piles with good suc- 
cess, although not prescribed by me in the first place. 
One of my patients who was suffering from piles, and 



310 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

happened to have a bottle in the house, tried it, and 
it had a good effect. He published it to others, and 
soon there was quite a demand for my pile medicine. 
Not having any specific, I did not know at first what 
was wanted ; but, upon inquiry, I found it was my 
liniment. I still think it a severe remedy, however 
effectual it may be. 

BOILS. 

Boils seldom come alone ; there are generally sev- 
eral at a time, or they follow each other. They may 
appear on any part of the body, but are most common 
on the face and neck. They denote some wrong in 
the circulating fluids, often connected with irritation 
of the digestive organs, and are probably nature's 
mode of counter-irritation to prevent some more seri- 
ous disease, and to eliminate from the system hurtful 
matter, or to counteract its baleful tendency. The 
proper mode of treatment is to regulate the system. 
Take an alterative powder every other night, and 
quinine bitters, or an infusion of chamomile flowers, 
or of quassia wood, three times a day before meals. 
A poultice of bread and milk, or of flaxseed, gives 
relief and expedites maturation. A diachylon is 
proper after the boil is opened. 

Carbuncle is a malignant boil, occurring with 
depraved general health. It begins like a boil, 
becomes hard, purple, slow to mature, hot to the 
touch, and very painful, with a sensation of burning 



CANCER. 811 

heat. The internal treatment should be the same as 
directed for boils. The application to the sore should 
be something to stimulate it to healthy action. Dis- 
solve an ounce of muriate of ammonia in three pints 
of whisky and water, half of each. Use the solution 
to wet up a poultice with wheat bran or flour. 
Apply a fresh poultice once in three or four hours. 
The German empyrics often call this disease Krebs, 
which in English is cancer. 

CANCER. 

Cancer is a terrible disease. It usually begins with 
a schirrous tumor at first, without much feeling, but 
at length lancinating, stinging and burning pains are 
felt; the skin above the tumor becomes puckered, 
contracted, discolored, and adheres to the tumor. At 
length an ulcer is formed, which discharges a thin, 
bloody, and fetid matter. 

Treatment. — Keep the sore clean and covered from 
the air with cloths wet with alterative wash No. 1, 
and attend properly to the generally health. 

P. S. 

In case of boils I generally give iodide of potassium 
in place of the alterative powders, otherwise I would 
treat them the same as recommended by father. 

SORE OR CRACKED LIPS. 

Some persons are troubled with raw lips in warm 
weather, and others with sore and cracked lips in 



312 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

cold weather. Blue vitriol rubbed over them once 
or twice per day will seldom fail to effect a cure. It 
would be well to smear them, morning and evening, 
with camphor ice. If the disease is obstinate, and 
will not yield to these external applications, take the 
solution of iodide of potassium, from two to six 
months, until a radical cleansing of the blood is 
effected. 

BRONCHOCELE, OE GOITRE (s WELLED NECK). 

This disease consists of an enlargement of the 
thyroid gland, situated on the front part of the neck. 
It is common at the foot of lofty mountains, in nearly 
every part of the world, and was formerly supposed 
to be caused by drinking snow-water ; but as it fre- 
quently occurs where there is no snow, that, like many 
other theories, is exploded. The tumor is sometimes 
very large. 

Iodine is the remedy for this complaint, used as a 
wash and ointment externally, and taken in connec- 
tion with potassium internally; or take the iodide of 
potassium, in three-grain doses for adults, three times 
per day, and use tincture of iodine, made by dissolv- 
ing one drachm of iodine in one ounce of alcohol. 
Make an ointment by mixing one drachm of iodine 
:and one drachm of iodide of potassium, let them dis- 
solve and form a liquid, then mix with one ounce of 
lard. Wet the tumor with the tincture of iodine in 
the morning, and rub it over with the ointment at 



WHITLOW. 313 

night. If it produces too much irritation of the skin, 
omit for a day. Keep the bowels open freely with 
corrective pills, or rhubarb syrup. 

WHITLOW, OB FELO-N". 

In ancient times this name was given only to an 
inflammatory swelling about the roots of the nail, 
but now it means a painful inflammatory swelling of 
either of the fingers, or toes, or the palm of the hand, 
or even sometimes the arm. Four kinds are pointed 
out. First, that seated between the true and false 
skin. Second, that seated between the skin and the 
periosteum (covering of the bone). Third, that occu- 
pying the sheath of a tendon. Fourth, that consid- 
ered to be seated between the periosteum and bone. 
The last three are only different degrees of the same 
disease. The first commences in, or immediately 
under, the skin, and spreads to , other parts. The 
other varieties seem to commence at or near the bone. 
The pain is excessive and piercing, owing to the parts 
being put upon the stretch when inflamed. The best 
thing to be done is to make an opening, freely, down 
to the seat of the disease. If the pain starts from 
the bone it should be cut boldly down until the lance 
scrapes that. This relieves the pain instantly. It 
should then be poulticed with bread and milk poul- 
tice, upon which a little laudanum may be sprinkled, 
if the pain continues, until it is healed. If the patient 
will not have the best thing done, viz., cut it open, 



314 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

it should be soaked, for half an hour at a time, in 
strong lye, as hot as it can be borne without scalding. 
"When not in soak, apply a poultice of bread and 
milk, or a flaxseed poultice, wet with laudanum, or 
well sprinkled with morphine. I have known several 
felons to be cured by soaking them freely, or wetting 
several folds of cloth and wrapping the part in Sedg- 
wick's liniment. This course should be persevered 
in. If not cured in twenty-four, or at most forty- 
eight hours, do not delay or hesitate, but have it cut 
freely open, and save yourself many hours, and per- 
haps days and nights, of severe pain, which can be 
avoided by a moment's sting. And not only do you 
avoid this pain, but you preserve the limb. It is not 
uncommon for persons to loose their fingers, and often 
the use of their hands, in consequence of neglecting 
a felon, that is, neglecting to do the only thing that 
is sure to effect a cure. 

COENS. 

These troublesome things are caused by wearing 
tight shoes or boots. Ladies often call for ~No. 3 
shoes, when fours or fives would suit their feet better ; 
and gentlemen, particularly young ones, are not free 
from this pride. 

The way to cure them is, first, wear boots or shoes 
that are large enough, then pare the corns down, 
once each week, as thin as you can without bleeding, 
then apply any sort of sticking plaster that will keep 



COKNS. 315 

the corn moist ; if this gets dry, put on a new one ; 
follow this up thoroughly and regularly, and a cure 
is certain. It may take one month, or it may take 
six ; it is very little trouble, and comparatively no 
expense, and it is attended with no pain. 

A cure is just as certain as that you will live. 
Do not fool away your money upon these traveling 
corn doctors. 

Soon after I commenced studying medicine, I 
called one day at a shoe shop to have my foot mea- 
sured for a pair of boots. A young man who was 
working there, in order to have some fan, at my 
expense, said to me, " Doc, I have a very bad corn I 
wish you to cure; I have tried a great many 
medicines without doing me any good, and I have 
been wishing to see you some time since ; I thought 
you would be able to cure them." 

" You have called upon the right person," I re- 
plied, "for I can cure them in a short time if you 
will follow my directions, and are willing to pay the 
expense." We then agreed before the proprietor of 
the shop that he should do just what I directed him, 
and, if they were cured within three months, he was 
to pay me two dollars ; if they were not cured, I 
should have nothing. I required him to observe the 
directions I have given, and told him he might use 
shoemaker's wax for a salve, as they had plenty of 
that. Two months after that, I called for my boots, 
and, when I offered to pay for them, the proprietor 



316 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

said, " I will deduct two dollars for curing A's 
corns ; he followed your directions, and in less than 
six weeks his corns were entirely cured ; he says it 
cost you nothing, and he would tell you they were 
not well, but it was a fair bargain, and I know they 
are cured, and he shall pay you ; I will take it out of 
•the price of the boots and charge it to him. A sat 
in silence, changing color frequently, as his boss was 
settling with me ; but he made the best of it by say- 
ing, he intended to cheat me out of it, but he was 
healed, and would give up and try to get his money 
back by curing corns for somebody else. This was 
my first fee, but I have cured thousands of corns in 
this simple, painless way since. 

WAETS. 

We do not know the cause of these pests. They 
often go off, from young persons, as suddenly as they 
come. Every body has a remedy for them. The 
most simple is the best. I have " talked " them off 
from hundreds of people. I say " talked," for this is 
what we called it. I first ascertain just how many 
warts there are, then take a strong, smooth, hard 
cord ; tie as many hard knots as there are warts ; then 
press a knot into the centre of each wart, bearing on 
hard, so as to produce an indentation, hold it there a 
minute or two, until it produces some pain, continue 
this until you have pressed each wart with one of the 
knots. If the warts remain at the end of two weeks, 






CLING NAILS. 317 

repeat the operation. I have never failed, so far as I 
know, in curing warts in this way. The talking is, 
of course, all humbug ; the wart is cured, if cured, 
by the pressure in the centre ; it must be severe 
enough to stop the circulation. I have tried the 
head of a large pin, a pointed stick, or a nail, and 
the same effect was produced. The harder and 
longer the pressure the more certain the cure. 

CLING NAILS, OR NAILS GROWING INTO THE TOE. 

These are very painful, and, like corns, are caused 
by tight shoes and by wearing high heels, shoving 
the toes forward, so that the nails are pinched. Do 
not let them grow and become so bad that an opera- 
tion will be necessary, for it is one of the most pain- 
ful operations the surgeon is called upon to perform. 
If you discover the edges of the nail inclined to 
grow into the toe, commence immediately cutting the 
nail concave, leaving each corner out more than the 
centre, and scrape the middle of the nail from the 
flesh towards the end of the nail, once each week, as 
thin as you can without hurting. This will cause the 
edges of the nail to turn up. By persevering in this 
course, if taken before it is too far gone, the worst 
consequences may be prevented. It may be neces- 
sary, in bad cases, to raise the nail and push cotton 
under the edges while the scraping and cutting 
process is going on. 



318 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



SWEATING FEET. 



This, to say the least, is a disagreeable and often a 
disgusting complaint. Feet troubled in this way in 
warm weather, smell at night so very offensive that 
you can hardly bear yourself, much less another per- 
son. Washing the feet every night in soap and 
water, and then wetting them with a strong decoction 
of sage, is said to be a good remedy. Salt and water 
is of value. So is alcohol and water. Rubbing the 
feet, after washing, in a mixture of mustard and 
starch will relieve the complaint. Wear both cotton 
hose and cloth shoes, change the hose every day, and 
cleanse the feet well every night. 

CHILBLAINS. 

Any stimulating application, before the part is 
broken out into a sore, will be of benefit. Cold 
water, brandy, camphorated oil, and Sedgwick's lini- 
ment, are valuable. When the parts are swelled and 
painful, apply a flaxseed poultice, wet with laudanum, 
until the swelling, pain and soreness have subsided. 
Then an ointment made of white lead, one ounce, 
morphine, fifteen grains, lard, four ounces, mix 
thoroughly together, and smear; cover all with 
simple adhesive plaster to keep off the air, wash clean 
at least once each day, then apply the ointment and 
plaster as before. The best way, however, is not to 
have the Chilblains. To avoid them have vour 



CHILBLAINS. 319 

boots large enough in cold weather so that yon can 
wear woolen socks enough to keep your feet warm, 
and never sit still and let your feet freeze or chill 
enough to cause these troublesome swellings. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



CONSUMPTION. 



Consumption is a disease common to all climates, but 
prevails most in cold and damp situations. All ages 
are subject to it, but it more frequently occurs 
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. The 
predisposing cause of consumption is debility or 
deficiency of vital energy. This is often hereditary, 
but may be induced by any thing that tends to waste 
the strength of the system. Intemperance of all 
kinds; excessive stimulating is followed by depres- 
sion. This rising and falling of vital action is 
exhaustive, and produces debility. A deficiency in 
the quality or quantity of food tends directly to 
debility. Too much or too rich food, by taxing the 
digestive powers to prepare more nourishment than 
can be assimulated and appropriated to the needs of 
the system, is a waste of animal vigor, and conse- 
quently causes debility. A proper degree of exercise 
is necessary to strength. Let a well person lie in bed 
six or eight weeks and he is very likely to be unable 
to walk. Generally the more a person exercises the 
more he is able to do. Thus we see the blacksmith, 
or the shoemaker, is strong in his arms, because he 



CONSUMPTION. 321 

exercises them so much. Yet exhaustive exercise, 
long continued, or over-fatigue, is a direct cause of 
debility. Pure and healthy air is necessary to the 
strength and vigor of the system. Air contaminated 
by crowded or ill- ventilated rooms, or rendered impure 
from any other cause, will occasion general debility. 
This deficiency of vital energy existing, and some 
exciting cause intervening, consumption in some of 
its forms is produced. One young man of eighteen 
jumps from the hay-mow on to the barn-floor, he is 
predisposed to disease by lack of vital energy, the 
concussion bruises the cartilages of the knee-joint, a 
white swelling is produced, and if not arrested by 
proper treatment, the swelling increases, the cartil- 
ages become ulcerated, a whey-like matter, filled with 
curd-looking particles, is formed, an irritative or hectic 
fever succeeds, emaciation, night sweats, colliquative 
diarrhoea, and death by consumption. Another by 
some similar concussion, and being similarly predis- 
posed by a similar debilitated state of the system,, 
bruises the cartilages of the hip joint, and if not 
timely counteracted, the same symptoms and the same 
issue follows. These are generally called scrofulous 
constitutions, which means nothing more or less than 
deficiency of vital energy. Another young man, simi- 
larly constituted, by over-exertion with a cradle, 
causes a lumbar abscess ; he passes through all the 
stages, and all the symptoms, and dies of consumption. 
Another, with a like want of inherent vigor,, is taken 
21 



322 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

with measles, away from liome ; eight or ten months 
afterwards he is brought home to die of consumption. 
(See case under Sequel of Measles). A girl of fifteen 
or sixteen, with this constitution, is passing into a state 
of womanhood ; by some cold or accident at a critical 
period, nature is thwarted in her natural efforts, and 
she goes into consumption. Another person, possess- 
ing one of these constitutions, after being heated by 
& warm room, and perhaps also by exertion, passes 
into the cold air with insufficient clothing, or on to 
the wet ground with thin shoes, a cold is caught, and 
bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs, consumption, 
and death is the consequence. All these different 
forms of consumption are to be treated on the general 
principle of restoring the vital energy, and counteract- 
ing the diseased local action, which things are more 
fully exemplified in the following cases : P. S. 

Case 1st. — Mrs. M. P. had what was called a 
scrofulous constitution. There was evidently in 
the family a scrofulous taint. Two of her sisters 
had died of consumption. She had for some time 
been afflicted with pains, wandering from one part to 
another, fixing themselves, by turns, in the head, 
shoulders, knees, wrists, fingers, hips, loins, etc. The 
eountenance was rather pallid, with considerable 
general languor and a feeling of weariness and low- 
ness of spirits, with tendency to costiveness. At 
length the pains settled in the right knee, and it 



CO^SUMPTIOM. 323 

began to swell with a dull and heavy pain. In this 
situation she came to see me ; I gave her a bottle of 
my common liniment, with directions to brush the 
knee smartly with a brush until the skin was red, 
then rub in the liniment thoroughly for fifteen or 
twenty minutes, three or four times a day ; to take 
corrective pills at bed time, enough to move the 
bowels in the course of the next day ; every night 
when the bowels have not freely moved within the 
last twenty-four hours, take cascarilla bitters three 
times a day, before meals, bathe in salt water, wiping 
off smartly with a coarse towel ; take regular exer- 
cise, but avoid fatigue ; let the diet be regular and 
nutritious ; avoid every thing that oppresses or dis- 
turbs the stomach ; call again in a fortnight. She 
came accordingly. The general health was improv- 
ing ; the knee was somewhat less painful, but more 
swelled, with an oedematous puffiness of the flesh ; 
directed continue the internal treatment, but exchange 
the liniment for a wash of muriate of ammonia, one 
ounce to three pints, half whisky and half water; 
let three or four thicknesses of cloth be wet with the 
same and bound on ; call again in another fortnight. 
She did so. Her health was much improved, but the 
swelling was about the same. I then directed her to 
draw repeated blisters all around the swelling, apply- 
ing one, two inches in diameter, once in two days. 
The disease yielded to this treatment. P. S. 



324 THE HOUSE WE LIVE ITT. 

Case 2nd. — E. S., aged about eighteen, the son of 
a widow, came with his mother to me Nov. 1, 1859. 
One knee was badly swelled. His mother was afraid 
he had white-swelling, and especially so as his father 
died of white-swelling, terminating in consumption. 
He was evidently in that state of deficiency of vital 
energy, which is commonly called a scrofulous state. 
Although his knee was excessively swelled, it was 
not extremely painful ; but a dull, heavy pain most 
of the time, and too lame to be used. He walked 
with crutches. The swelling appeared very much as 
if it contained a fluid, but the fluctuation was not 
quite distinct enough to lead me, at that time, to open 
it. I applied cloths wet in solution of muriate of 
ammonia, after giving the whole limb a good brush- 
ing, and bandaged the limb snugly and evenly from 
the toes to above the swelling. Gave him cascarilla 
bitters to take three times a day, before meals, and 
corrective pills to keep his bowels right. Saw him 
again in about two weeks. His general health and 
appetite were improving ; the swelling was less dif- 
fused around, was less painful, and seemed to be more 
collected in one spot, with more distinct fluctuation. 
I introduced the lancet ; matter and bloody water 
escaped pretty freely ; the swelling was considerably 
reduced. Directed small blisters to be repeated once 
in two or three days, below and above the swelling ; 
covering that with cloths wet in the ammonia solu 
tion ; continued the bandage from the toes up, leav- 



CONSUMPTION. 325 

ing the knee to be covered with an extra bandage, 
for the convenience of frequently removing to apply 
and dress the blisters. This treatment was continued 
three or four months with gradual but rather slow 
improvement of all the symptoms. In March, 1860, 
his general health was good; the swelling and the 
pain was pretty much removed, but some lameness, 
stiffness and weakness remained. I added an ounce 
of aqua-ammonia and an ounce of skunk's oil to two 
ounces of my common liniment, to be rubbed tho- 
roughly two or three times a day. He was dismissed 
cured the first of May. P. S. 

Case 3rd. — T. T., a young lady of eighteen, of 
scrofulous constitution, or rather of a constitution 
deficient in vital vigor. She was considered to be in 
a confirmed consumption, and had been under the 
care of four different first-class physicians in the 
region where she lived. Her father was in affluent 
circumstances, and had spared no expense to procure 
medical aid for his daughter, but all had been un- 
availing. She was at a cousin's in the vicinity of my 
residence, and was put under my care. I found her 
truly much reduced in flesh and strength, with hectic 
fever, night sweats, and a very harrassing cough, 
with an expectoration of a tenacious and frothy 
sputa, which seemed to be with difficulty brought up 
with much hard coughing; and yet, on the whole, 
was rather abundant, over a pint in twenty hours, as 



326 THE HOUSE WE LITE IN - . 

reported. I learned that she had been dilatory in 
corning to the menstrual change of life. This took 
place at the age of sixteen. She then had one evacu- 
ation, and in one month after another commenced 
which was arrested by taking a sudden cold, and she 
had not menstruated since ; yet, when the monthly 
period came round, the efforts of nature were mani- 
fest by the peculiar pains such efforts produce. I set 
myself to counteract bad symptoms and to restore 
vigor. She had torpid secretions and costive bowels; 
I gave corrective pills every other night. The 
monthly period would come around in two weeks. I 
commenced immediately to give a tea-spoonful of 
Dewee's tincture, in half a gill of milk, three times a 
day, an hour after meals. There seemed a little lack 
of energy in the stomach ; I gave cascarilla bitters 
three times a day, before meals. There was irritation 
in the bronchial tubes, extending to the lungs. I 
made an irritation externally to counteract that, and 
for the same directed the following syrup : take of 
comfrey root, spikenard root and white-pine bark a 
handful of each ; put them in two quarts of water, 
simmer down to one quart, add a pint of molasses 
and a pint of spirits ; take a table-spoonfdl every 
hour through the day when there is a disposition to 
cough. Sponging over the body with tepid salt 
water in the morning, keeping the feet warm, a gen- 
erous diet and regular exercise completed the treat- 
ment. She was regular and well in eight weeks. 

P. S. 



CONSUMPTION. 327 

Case 4ith. — Emily W , a girl about sixteen, 

was brought to me by her father. She was thought 
to be in confirmed consumption. Her father lived at 
Canastota, a village on the Erie Canal, in the State 
of New York, about thirty miles west of my resi- 
dence, in Oneida county. I told him if he would 
leave her with me, I thought, by the help of God, I 
could eure her in six months. She had been treated 

by Dr. D , a respectable physician in C. When 

Mr. W informed him that I thought I could cure 

his daughter in six months, he replied, " Any man is 
a d — n fool that thinks that he can cure her in six 
months." The girl had been near two years in a 
bad state of health, and had not, after the manner of 
women, arrived to a state of puberty. She was con- 
siderably emaciated, and had a cough, attended with 
a mucous expectoration; a fever in the afternoon, 
which had been considered hectic; a torpid liver, 
constipation of the bowels, a furred tongue, cold feet, 
and every mark of deficient vital energy ; and as she 
resided in a marshy situation by the Erie Canal, I 
judged the fever more intermittent than hectic. 
Directed corrective pills every other night, quinine 
bitters, once in three hours, for a week, namely, at six, 
nine, twelve, three, and six, with some nourishing food 
immediately after each dose. Regular meals at six, 
twelve, and six, with some light nourishment between 
meals. After the first week, cascarilla bitters, three 
times a day before meals, and Dewees' tincture, a tea- 



328 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

spoonful in a gill of milk, three times a day, an hour 
after meals ; to be sponged over the whole body 
every morning with strong salt and water, a little 
warm, then wiped off with a coarse towel ; her feet 
and legs to be bathed every night in a warm foot-bath, 
impregnated with the nitro-muriatic solution, strong 
1 enough to produce a little tingling sensation in the 
skin ; to exercise by swinging an hour every day. 
This she could not do at first, but fainted on the first 
trial ; but after a few trials she stood it well, and 
liked it. She took flaxseed tea, sweetened somewhat 
with honey, to appease her cough ; at other times she 
drank freely of lycopus tea. She went home cured 
in six weeks. P. S. 

Case 5 th — Showing the effect of disappointment 
and sudden grief, when joined with constitutional 
deficiency of vital energy, to produce rapid consump- 
tion. 

Lydia B , a girl about seventeen, belonged to 

a family consisting of one son and six daughters. 
Their father had died of consumption some years 
before. One or two of her sisters had died of con- 
sumption. None of them were robust and healthy. 
Lydia was the youngest of the family, of fair com- 
plexion, clear skin, and of a lively disposition, dis- 
posed to fun and frolic. She was engaged to be 
married to a young man who had gone on a journey 
to the West. She was, in the mean time, staying 



CONSUMPTION. 329 

with his mother, making preparations for the wed- 
ding, which was to take place on his return, which 
was expected the next week. I had been visiting a 
patient, a daughter of the old lady, for some time, 
and had noticed the sprightliness and cheerful 
demeanor of Lydia. She seemed to be overflowing 
with happiness. At length, on approaching the 
house in one of my visits, I met Lydia in the street ; 
she was going home to her sister's. As I was familiar 
with the family, and much respected by them, she 
had always met me with a cheerful, smiling saluta- 
tion ; but now she scarcely lifted her weeping and 
swollen eyes to me, and betrayed a countenance the 
most woe-begone and dejected. I passed on, and 

inquiring what was the matter with Lydia B , 

learned that she had just received a letter informing 
them that her intended was married in the West. 
In about a week after this I was called on to visit 
Lydia at her sister's, which, I found on going there, 
was much against her will. She did not believe a 
physician could help her, and if he could save her life 
she certainly did not want him, for to die was what 
she most desired. Every secretion and every natural 
action of the system was locked up. I tried to rally 
her spirits, and to do something for her. It was all 
in vain. She died of consumption in six weeks. 

P. S. 

I have ever believed that father knew much more 



330 THE HOUSE WE LIVE LN". 

about consumption than I did. His long experience 
in Oneida county, New York, where he was prescrib- 
ing for cases every day, from all parts of the country, 
gave him an experience I never wished to possess. 
It has, however, been my fortune, or misfortune, to 
have charge of a few cases in Illinois. It is well 
known that few cases of real consumption of the 
lungs have originated here. I will briefly describe 
two cases that came under my treatment. 

Mrs. H , of B , in Du Page County, arose 

early one very cold morning in the winter, and rode 
six mi]es to the railroad, on her way to Chicago ; my 
wife and myself were with her. In riding to the rail- 
road Mrs. H become chilled to the very vitals. 

She was not one of the complaining sort, and we did 
not know at the time how chilled she was. She told me 
afterwards that she did not get warm all day. When 

we returned home at night, we found Mr. H , 

her husband, very sick with inflammation of the 
lungs. She was up all night, and for several nights 
thereafter. It was nearly impossible to persuade her to 
leave him a moment. If she tried to rest she would 
arise and come to him if she heard a groan. He was 
dangerously sick for ten or twelve days, and needed 

care for several weeks. Mrs. H was his nurse, 

she did not spare herself, and during all this time she 
was suffering from severe pain in her lungs. We knew 
she looked weary and worn, but we did not know that 
the fell destroyer was preying at her vitals. And even 



CONSUMPTION. 331 

after Mr. H so far recovered as to be able to be 

about, and not to need much care, she did not let her 
true condition be known, but complained of some pain 
and soreness about the back and chest. It was at least 
three months after she received the fatal chill before 
she ascertained her true condition; then abcesses 
were forming in her lungs ; she had severe pain, great 
soreness, and considerable cough. It was not long 
before hectic fever and night sweats, accompanied 
with chills, made their appearance. I commenced 
immediately a thorough course of treatment, made 
large antimonial sores over her chest, gave her ano- 
dynes and expectorants, stimulants and tonics of 
various sorts; gave her the "alterative tonic and 
expectorant syrup." In the early summer she went 
with her husband to the seaside, spending several 

months in Connecticut and New Jersey. Mr. H 

was in very poor health, and they were both home- 
sick, and they returned home without being benefited. 
The next fall and winter she was under my care, and 
the same course of tonics, anodynes, expectorants, 
and external irritation, was followed. The next July 
she went with my wife and myself to Minnesota. We 
went in a carriage to LaCrosse. She met us at Madi- 
son, Wisconsin. From there she rode forty miles, the 
first day, without getting out of the carriage. She 
was full of hope, and stood the journey well, going 
forty miles every day but one, until we arrived at the 
river at La Crosse. There we took a steamboat and 



332 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

went to St. Paul. The next day we started with our 
own conveyance for the country. When about five 
miles from St. Paul, on the high grounds, she remarked 
that she had not breathed so easy for months. She 
was in good spirits, and seemed improving until the 
time arrived for her menstrual period; none came. 
I gave her the usual remedies, but to no effect. She 
became discouraged at once; she was posted, and 
knew it was a bad symptom. From that time she 
grew worse. Soon after the Indian war commenced 
and we were constantly hearing of the fearful atroci- 
ties committed by these infernal red devils. (If the 
pseudo-philanthropists in the East had seen and heard 
what we saw, heard, and suffered, they would not 
plead for the lives of the barbarous horde, fiends who 
murdered in cold blood those who had fed, clothed, 
sheltered and kept them from starvation all the win- 
ter before). 

We went immediately to St. Paul, and sent for Mr. 
H. to come up after his wife. He was taken sick 
immediately upon his arrival, and his wife stood over 
him all one night. After this, she failed rapidly ; I 
was fearful she would not live to come home ; we 
came to Dunleith on a steamboat, and they came 
home on the cars ; she went to her room and bed, 
and in about two weeks she died. She did not wish 
to know when she was dying, and charged me not to 
tell her, and I did not. I saw her the night she 
died, when she was in a dying condition, but spoke 



consumption. 333 

cheerfully to her, and talked as I woulcl if I knew 
she was to live weeks. I do not believe in deceiving 
patients, and never do it unless some great good is to 
be gained by it ; before morning she died ; when I 
saw her a smile was upon her countenance. She died 
the death of a Christian. 

Case 2nd. — Fourteen years ago, C. G., of Wayne, 
came to me and said he wished me to examine him 
and tell him what I thought of him. He had severe 
pain in his chest and throat, a distressing cough ; 
pulse a hundred and twenty, night sweats and loss 
of appetite. " Well," I said, after examining him, 
" you will die. You might be cured ; but you will 
not, for you will not follow directions. I do not 
wish to prescribe for you on that account." He had 
tried several physicians. After hearing what I had 
to say, he promised, if I would prescribe for him, he 
would do precisely as I said. I gave a sticking 
plaster to sprinkle antimony on, and put on his throat 
and chest over the pain ; gave him the " alterative 
tonic and expectorant syrup ; " directed him to keep 
his bowels open, eat nourishing food, take regular 
exercise, and not to be running about nights, and to 
call and see me again in about two weeks. He 
came ; I never saw such a sore made by antimony as 
this plaster had made ; it was awful, but the soreness 
inside was gone, the cough was gone, the night 
sweats were gone, his pulse was less than one hun- 



334 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

dred, his appetite was good, lie was cured ; ordered 
him to let the sore get well and continue the syrup 
until he had used up what he had. He was troubled 
no more until the past winter; he felt weak and 
bad ; he was in Chicago as a juryman in the . U. S. 
court. He called upon two regular advertising con- 
sumption doctors. They told him his lungs were 
badly affected. They were either fools or scoundrels. 
He did not take any prescriptions from them, but 
came out to Wheaton to see me. I examined him 
and told him he was humbugged and scared; his 
lungs were sound; his trouble was disease of the 
" general health ; " gave him the same prescription as 
before, with the addition of quinine bitters for a few 
days, and mustard plasters over the liver in place of 
antimonial ointment or plaster. In a few weeks he 
was as well as ever. If he had employed these con 
sumption doctors, he would undoubtedly have been 
killed in a year, and his estate would have invoiced 
much less than it now will. 

ANOTHER CASE OF CONSUMPTION. 

A boy of Mr. E., about fourteen years old, had a 
severe attack of lung fever ; it was neglected at first, 
and an abscess was formed in the right lung. It was 
known by a dull, heavy, throbbing pain, with great 
tenderness, hectic fever, night sweats, pulse a hundred 
and fifty, constant cough, attended with severe pain. 
Fortunately, the family had the itch the worst way, 



SPITTING BLOOD. 335 

which answered well as a counter-irritant. I gave 
the " alterative tonic and expectorant syrup ; " kept 
him constantly under the influence of morphine, 
giving him one-eighth of a grain, with two grains of 
ipecac, once in four hours, until the abscess broke, 
and he raised, at one time, nearly a quart of matter. 
Then I gradually lessened the dose of morphine until 
I ceased it entirely, but kept on with the syrup. He 
gained rapidly, and is now well. This was eight or 
ten years ago. These cases show that consumption 
is sometimes cured, even after ulceration and abcesses 
have formed in the lungs. They also show the folly 
of the old plan of treatment by medicines that 
reduce the system. Tonics, alteratives and expecto- 
rants, stimulants, generous diet, are the only hope. 
Counter-irritation should never be neglected. 

If you want to die, go from one physician to 
another ; the oftener you change the better ; take all 
the patent medicines you can hear of, read all the 
old almanacs you can find, believe every thing they 
say, and act accordingly. 

SPITTING BLOOD. 

If it comes from the lungs it is attended with some 
cough, is light colored, that is, a bright red, and 
mixed with some frothy phlegm. There is generally 
a sore place in the chest, or a place where there is a 
tingling and warm sensation, from which the blood 
comes. Give salt and water, first a tea-spoonful of 



336 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

salt in a tea-cupful of water, then a cathartic of a 
table-spoonful of Epsom salts, with half a tea-spoon- 
ful of saltpetre (potassa nitra) once in three hours 
until they operate. In the mean time make some 
external irritation over the place from which the 
blood proceeds, something like this: Apply the 
mustard plaster as long as the patient will bear it, 
then apply the cupping glass ; after this rub in the 
antimonial ointment, so as to keep up an irritation 
as long as the bleeding continues. As soon as the 
physic has operated, give a Dover's powder with 
four grains of acetate of lead in each powder, once 
in four, hours, until the bleeding ceases; then give 
physic again, say corrective pills, or rhubarb and 
magnesia. P. S. 

INFLUENZA (EPIDEMIC CATARRH). 

This affection is very common in this latitude, 
especially in the winter and early spring months. 
It is generally called a bad cold. It most frequently 
takes place immediately after a thaw in winter, and 
commences with chills, alternating with flashes of 
heat, followed soon by pain and sensation of weight 
in the forehead, a sensation of languor and weakness, 
sneezing, a discharge of thin, acrid fluid from the nos- 
trils, a sensation of rawness in the throat and along 
the course of the windpipe, hoarseness, and dry cough, 
anxiety, and a feeling of oppression about the chest, 
pain in the back and limbs, and in different parts of 



INFLUENZA. 337 

the body, weak pulse, sometimes with a white, slimy 
fiir upon the tongue. This disease is hard for old 
people and for young children, producing often pleu- 
risy or inflammation of the lungs, and carrying off a 
great many. In the onset of the disease the treat- 
ment is plain, and, I believe, always effective. Let 
the patient go to bed, take as large a dose of Dover's 
powder as he can bear without vomiting, and if he 
should vomit some, it will not hurt him. After the* 
powder take a good draught of warm, sweating tea, 
put some warm applications to the feet and cover up 
warm. If he don't begin to sweat a little in two> 
hours, take another dose of Dover's powder, followed 
by more warm drink. After continuing a gentle* 
moisture on the surface for six hours, take some good r 
thorough physic. When that has operated, take a 
light breakfast of some light food. The patient is 
probably cured. But if all this be but the precursor 
or beginning of some settled fever, the patient must 
be treated upon the principles laid down for the treat- 
ment of fever, according to the form which it assumes. 

P. S. 

Case of Influenza. — In the winter of 1826, after 
returning home to Oneida County from the medical 
college, and while waiting for my diploma, which I 
was to receive from the Regents of the University of 
the State of New York, I made a journey to the east 
part of the State of New York, partly to see if I 
22 



338 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

could discover a suitable location for my profession, 
and partly to call on Dr. Joseph. White, of Cherry 
Valley, President and Professor of Surgery in the 
college which had been my alma mater, I loved the 
old Doctor, not only for his remarkable skill in his 
profession, and correct judgment in all things per- 
taining to disease, but also probably from the cause 
mentioned in Luke vi. 32, last clause. (He had given 
me the highest recommendation). On leaving Cherry 
Valley for home, I soon began to feel a dullness and 
weariness, which was soon followed by wandering 
pains in different parts of the system, great heaviness 
in the fore part of the head, which soon became a 
heavy pain ; then there was hoarseness, and a filling 
up of the head and breathing passages, together with 
increased pain and weariness. After traveling about 
thirty miles, I felt as if I could go no further. I had 
become so hoarse that I could not make a loud noise 
and there was great soreness through the whole length 
of the breathpipe down to the lungs. I called at a 
tavern ; the friendly and affable landlord thought it 
would be great presumption for me to try to go any 
farther ; he thought I was in a dangerous condition, 
and might die before morning ; the disease was severe 
in the neighborhood, and had been fatal in many 
cases ; he had attended a funeral that afternoon, the 
death having been occasioned by this disease. But 
I had a brother-in-law eight or ten miles further on, 
and thought I must try to get there. I did get there 



CATAKKH. 339 

hardly alive. Went into bed, took a large Dover's 
powder, followed by a large draught of pennyroyal 
tea ; had a hot brick to my feet, was covered warm, 
sweat gently until two A.M. ; took four Lee's pills ; 
they operated finely by eight A.M. ; took some tea 
and toast, and at eleven A.M. started for home cured. 

P. S. 

CHEONIC CATAKKH. 

This disease consists in a chronic inflammation of 
the mucous membranes of the air passages. It is the 
result of a neglected cold or epidemic catarrh. If 
neglected, it is apt to extend to the bronchial tubes, 
and ultimately to the lungs, and may end in con- 
sumption. It is made the subject for numerous 
nostrums ; you can not pick up a newspaper without 
seeing one or more remedies advertised as certain 
cures. It is known by a dull pain in the forehead, a 
dry, smarting sensation in the nose and passage from 
the nose to the throat, and a collection of matter in 
the air passage, which drops down into the throat 
and produces irritation and a sensation which induces 
hawking, or coughing, until the deposit is raised. 
Perhaps this will occur but once each day, and that 
in the morning. Now is the time to effect a 
cure. It may be done by bathing the fore 
part of the head and temples in cold water, and 
by gurgling a weak solution of blue vitriol in the 
throat. But if this does not succeed in a few days, 



340 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

a catarrh-syringe should be procured, and a solution 
of thirty grains of iodide of potassium or chlorate of 
potash to half a pint of water ; fill the syringe with 
this solution ; place the point of the syringe back of 
the palate, pointing upward, and force the solution 
out with such force that it will run out of the nose. 
This should be done once each day and will soon 
effect a cure in all recent cases. This disease should 
not be tampered with, but should be thoroughly 
treated immediately upon its approach. The general 
health should be attended to, and all the constitu- 
tional symptoms looked after. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FRACTURES BROKEN BONES. 

In most cases of fractures it will be necessary to send 
immediately for a good surgeon. All that can Ibe 
done before that, is to place the fractured part in as 
near a natural position as possible, and it will gener- 
ally be best to keep the parts wet with cold water. 
Broken fingers can be set by any body. Pull them 
into natural position and keep them there by small 
splints, wrapped in cloth and wound around with a 
narrow bandage to keep them in place. The collar- 
bone may be set without employing a surgeon. All 
there is to do to bring the bones in place, is to draw 
the shoulders back, passing your fingers gently over 
the broken place until it feels and looks like the 
sound side. If the shoulders are sufficiently drawn 
back the bones must come right. You must not 
draw them so far that the bones will come too far 
out. To keep the bones in place it is only necessary 
be keep the shoulders back, and this can be done by 
passing a bandage over the shoulders, crossing on the 
back in the form of a figure 8 several times, until 
they are firmly held. Or straps may be made to fit 
over the shoulder, nearly meeting on the back, then 



34*2 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IEV 

laced like a corset until the bones come to their 
proper place. It will be necessary to tighten this in 
a day or two. If after doing this the bones should 
protrude in front more than is natural, apply a com- 
press, made by folding several thicknesses of cotton 
cloth together, laying them over the protuberance, 
pressing them lightly, and keeping them in place by 
a bandage passing several times around the chest, 
under the arm, and over the shoulder. 

SPKAINS. 

Sprains, if severe, are tedious and often painful 
things. They need for their cure a vast amount of 
patience, for it takes more time to accomplish a cure 
than it does to unite and heal a broken bone. If the 
strain is at or near a large joint, and has been made 
with much force, and any large tendon or ligament has 
been broken, it will be from six to twelve months, 
if it is carefully used, before it will become strong ; 
if it is used before it becomes united and strong, 
it may never become strong. They need no set- 
ting. If the parts are painful, they should be kept 
constantly wet with spirits and water, five parts of 
water to one of alcohol, or two parts of water to one 
of common whisky, will be about the right propor- 
tion. That the cloths may be kept cool they should 
be changed often. When the swelling is reduced 
and the pain ceases, it should be bathed once or twice 
per day in my family liniment, or in beef brine, and 



BRUISES. 343 

the parts brushed with a flesh brush. This liniment 
may also be used in the first stages in place of the 
spirits and water, if the pain is excessive, and that 
application does not have the desired effect. 

BRUISES 

Should be treated same as sprains. When a person 
has received a fall he is frequently insensible when 
there is really no serious injury, only the whole sys- 
tem has suffered a sudden jar which has disturbed the 
circulation and suspended, for the time, nearly all the 
natural functions of the system. It was formerly the 
practice to bleed immediately in these cases. Nothing 
could be worse. There is no doubt that many lives 
have been sacrificed in this way that might have been 
saved if the right measures had been adopted. It is 
as much as the system can do to rally without being 
reduced just at the critical time by the loss of blood. 
The extremities should be chafed and bathed with 
spirits, and, if possible, stimulants should be adminis- 
tered, and a reaction established as soon as possible. 
Then it can be ascertained where the patient is hurt, 
and the proper remedies applied. 

CUTS. 

These frequently occur in every family, and, if 
made with a sharp-edged instrument, they are gen- 
erally attended with very little trouble. They 
should be made, if dirty, perfectly clean, and for 



344 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

this purpose cold water should be used ; the wound 
should be sponged with this until the blood ceases to > 
flow, then the wound should be carefully closed, 
taking care that the skin meets every where ; small 
wounds can be held together with adhesive strips; 
cut the strips of adhesive plaster narrow ; heat one 
at a time by holding the back of the plaster to the 
heat ; stick one end on first, then draw the edges of 
the wound carefully together, and stick quickly 
down the other end ; keep doing this until the 
wound is covered, then stick two or three plasters 
the other way across the ends of the other strips to 
hold them securely in their places. If the cut is 
very extensive, more than two or three inches long, 
or in a part where it will not readily come and remain 
together, it will be necessary to take one or more 
stitches in it, about one inch apart ; it would be best 
to have a curved needle, but it can be done with a 
common needle. Take sewing silk (white if you 
hava it), make two or four doubles, according as it 
is coarse or fine, wax it, thread your needle, pass it 
through the skin at one edge of the wound, then 
through the other edge, then press the wound 
together with your fingers, then draw up the silk, 
passing it twice over, to form the knot that it may 
not slip, then tie it in a square, hard knot, cutting 
off the ends of the silk, so that they will be two or 
three inches long ; then apply the plasters just as 
you would if it was not necessary to use the stitches. 



cuts. 345 

If there is any danger that the wound will bleed, 
apply a bunch of cotton battin, of suitable size, over 
the plasters, and bind all up with a bandage. If it 
does not bleed or swell, it need not be dressed again 
for five days, when, if it is a small wound and has 
done well, it will be found entirely healed by what is 
called by surgeons the " first intention." If it is not 
healed, it should be washed clean with a suds made 
with Castile soap and soft water, and dressed with 
the adhesive strap, drawing the wound together as 
closely as possible. If there is much pain and 
inflammation, it will need dressing every day, after 
the first two or three days, as matter will then be 
formed, and all sores in order to do well must be kept 
clean. If the cut does not unite by the " first inten- 
tion," and does suppurate and form matter, and it 
becomes necessary that it should be healed by form- 
ing granulations, (or filling up with new flesh), it 
must be dressed daily, and then, if the granulations 
look red and angry, and bleed when touched, this is 
the commencement of the formation of what is called 
" proud flesh." In such cases, after washing the sore 
with the Castile soap and water, it should be wet 
with a solution made by dissolving four grains of cor- 
rosive sublimate in one ounce of rain water, or eight 
grains of blue vitriol in an ounce of rain water. This 
will destroy the proud flesh and keep the wound in a 
healthy condition. 

It is a mistaken notion that it is necessary for all 



346 THE HOUSE WE LIVE 1ST. 

wounds to suppurate, or form matter, or run. They 
should not and will not do so, if they are properly 
treated, unless the wound has been made by a dull 
instrument, or been bruised, or some dirt or other 
foreign substance has been left in it. I have many 
times seen large wounds completely healed in one 
week. When I was a boy, twelve or fourteen years 
of age, I was playing in the chamber, and ran against 
a broad-ax, and made a wound upon my shin five 
inches long, cutting entirely to the bone. Father 
was in the house, and immediately washed and prop- 
erly dressed the wound. In five days it was exam- 
ined and was completely healed, except about half 
an inch at the lower end. One narrow strip was put 
over that, and in three days more the cure was com- 
plete. If the stitches do not come off themselves, 
they should be cut away about the tenth or twelfth 
day. Every woman who has arrived at middle life 
has a special remedy for cuts, bruises, etc., etc., and 
so have most men. Some apply salt, some sugar, 
some fill the wound with molasses, some bind it up 
full of blood. Every thing of this sort is wrong. 
Any application put into the wound acts as a foreign 
substance, and will cause it to suppurate, or form 
matter. It is all unnatural, and injurious. Clean it, 
put it together, and keep it there. Nature will do 
the balance far better than any thing beside. Let 
nature work when there is a chance for her to show 
her powers, as she ever will in these cases. 



STOPPING BLOOD. 347 



STOPPING BLOOD. 



Presence of mind in some person about is necessary 
in every case of severe accident, especially in cases 
where blood flows freely. The first thing necessary 
is to cord the limb above or towards the body from 
the wound. A strong tape, or piece of carpet bind- 
ing, or something of that nature, is best ; but a piece 
of rope, a strong cord, or a strip of cloth, or a pocket 
handkerchief, torn in strips, may be used in an emer- 
gency. A bunch of cotton or lint may be bound 
tightly upon the wound. Puff ball will stanch the 
blood if no important artery is cut. Open the ball 
and fill the wound with the smoke. If a large vessel 
has been cut, it should be tied with a large waxed 
silk thread. This may be known by the blood spurt- 
ing out in jets with every pulsation of the heart. If 
necessary, in order to ascertain where the artery is, 
the cord should be loosened a little, when the blood 
will spurt. Have a hook prepared, sharp at the 
point, put this into the artery and pull it forward. 
The ligature should be formed into a knot (but not 
drawn up), and placed upon the hook in such a manner 
that when the artery is hooked the ligature will slip 
over the end of the artery when it can be drawn tight 
and tied, leaving the ends long enough to protrude 
from the wound, so that they can be readily found. 
In cases so severe as to need tying, a surgeon should 
be called as soon as possible, but it may be necessary 



348 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN - . 

to tie the artery before the surgeon arrives. Dr. Teft, 
of Elgin, informed me of a case of a wound that could 
not be healed on account of its being impossible to 
stop the blood for a sufficient length of time to allow 
the healing process to take place. A number of good 
surgeons had tried various ways without success. He 
succeeded by applying creosote to the wound, directly 
upon the blood vessels. I have never tried it, but 
should do so if necessary. 

BLEEDING AT THE NOSE. 

Young, full-blooded persons are frequently troubled 
with nose-bleed. It is generally an effort of nature 
to relieve herself of a superabundance of blood, and 
needs no treatment any more than to wet the face 
and temples in cold water. But sometimes it is so 
severe as to endanger the patient's life. In such 
cases the nose should be filled full of cotton, wet in 
some astringent, like alum, nut galls, oak bark, etc., 
etc., or the puff balls, or creosote, may be used. Care 
must be taken that the blood, after the nose is 
stopped with the cotton, does not run down into the 
throat. Sometimes it becomes necessary to draw the 
cotton in from the mouth. 

A short time since a man died in this county from 
the effects of bleeding at the nose. When a case is 
severe, and continues some time after using the proper 
remedies, the best medical aid in the country should 
be procured. I do not mean by the best the highest 



NOSE-BLEED. 349 

priced. I have frequently known people to go many 
miles for medical aid, passing by good physicians, and 
placing their lives in the hands of soulless pretenders, 
who secured business by the most bare-faced adver- 
tising. 

BLEEDING (HJEMOEEHAGE) OF THE BOWELS. 

Bleeding from the bowels frequently takes place in 
fevers. Four grains of acetate of lead, with four 
grains of Dover's powder, should be given once in 
four hours until relieved ; then give a cathartic of 
Epsom salts and magnesia. For vomiting blood use 
the same remedy. 

NOSE-BLEED (EPISTAXIS). 

In common cases it will often be sufficient to apply 
cold water to the temples, face, and back of the neck. 
If this does not succeed, or if the attack is violent, or 
the discharge rapid, give a Dover's powder, with from 
two grains of sugar of lead to six, once in four hours. 
Let the feet be kept warm, and stimulate with mus- 
tard plaster, or some rubefacient. If this does not 
all succeed, inject alum water into the nostrils with a 
syringe, and, if necessary, plug up the nostrils with a 
dossil of lint, and if the blood turns down the throat, 
the posterior nostril in the throat must be plugged. 
This is done by passing a fine wire, doubled, through 
the nostrils down the throat until it can be seen 
through the mouth, then with a hook draw it for- 



350 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

ward, attach the dossil of lint, or a piece of soft 
sponge, and draw it back so as to form a plug in tho 
posterior nostril. To cure the tendency to nose-bleed, 
where it occurs frequently, take equal parts of gum 
kino and blue vitriol, reduce to a fine powder, mix 
one part of this with iive parts of black snuff, to be 
taken frequently as snuff is taken. P. S. 

COUGHS. 

Many persons are at times afflicted with cough 
when they have nothing like consumption or bron- 
chitis. It may be caused by irritation of the 
stomach. It is often caused by unhealthy action of 
the liver. There is no one remedy that will be suc- 
cessful in every case, and many cases have been cured 
of cough of long standing by some simple remedy 
after using all the usual prominent remedies without 
the least benefit. For children from one month to 
one year old, a mixture of equal parts of slippery elm 
tea, or flax-seed tea, sweet oil and mollasses, given in 
doses of from half a tea-spoonful to a tea-spoonful, 
once in half an hour to an hour. Another good 
remedy for children is: Take a tin cup, fill it a 
quarter of an inch with loaf sugar, then put in a 
slice of common flat turnip, a quarter of an inch 
thick, then another layer of sugar, then turnips until 
the cup is full, then put a crust over the cup, and 
bake it one hour in an oven hot enough to bake 



TIGHT LACING. 351 

bread. Give this in doses of from a tea-spoonful to a 
table-spoonful once in an hour or two. 

A good remedy for cough caused by irritation of 
the bronchial tubes or membranes is : Take a handful 
each of comfrey root, spikenard root and white-pine 
bark ; put them to two quarts of water ; simmer 
down to one quart ; then strain, and add one pound 
loaf sugar and one pint of spirits. Dose, a table- 
spoonful once in one or two hours. 

Another excellent remedy is : Take thorough wort 
or boneset ; make it very strong by boiling a quantity 
of the herb; mix it with an equal quantity of 
molasses, and add a little spirits if the weather is 
not warm enough to keep it from spoiling. Dose, a 
table-spoonful once in two hours. This simple 
remedy has cured hundreds of cases of what was 
called consumption. It is a tonic and alterative as 
well as expectorant. If there is pain and soreness 
in any particular place in the lungs, antimonial oint- 
ment should be used freely over that place until the 
pain and soreness are relieved. Cough itself is not a 
disease but only a symptom, showing that there is 
irritation of some internal organ ; consequently, some 
external irritation, like the antimonial ointment or 
irritating plasters, are generally of great value. 

TIGHT LACING. 

The terrible effects resulting from this fashionable 
sin will ; ever be known in all their enormity. 



352 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Nothing we can say will prevent " ladies " of weak 
brains from making the vital organs contained in the 
chest and abdomen equally weak by corset and lace. 
I am not aware that any argument has yet been 
found sufficient to arrest this folly in any particular 
case. Mothers, see that your girls are not choked to 
death by a ligature about the waist, for it can be 
done as surely, though not as quickly, as though they 
were suspended by a cord about their neck. 

FAINTING (SYNCOPE). 

This is caused by the blood leaving the brain from 
any sudden fright, sight of distress in others, extreme 
pain, or any other cause that suddenly or completely 
deranges regular vital action. Many women have 
lost their lives soon after being delivered, having the 
appearance of fainting, when, in fact, it was caused 
by a sudden expansion of the uterus. Physicians 
have been deceived in this, and allowed their patients 
to die when they might have been saved, simply by 
pressing steadily upon the womb, with both hands 
on the abdomen, until permanent contraction had 
taken place. The treatment is to lay the patient 
with the head and shoulders the lowest, and apply 
stimulants to the face and nostrils. Spirits ammonia 
or ether — 



CHAPTER XIX. 

POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. 

There are three kinds of poisons, viz., mineral, vege- 
table, and animal. There are also organic and inor- 
ganic, irritant, narcotic, and acro-narcotic. Acetic 
acid, citric acid, muriatic acid, nitric acid, sulphuric 
acid, tartaric acid, and oxalic acid, are nearly all 
strong, corrosive poisons, and are of a sour, acrid 
taste, and produce burning in the throat, which is 
increased by pressure, swallowing, or coughing, excru- 
ciating pain in the stomach, more or less corrugation 
of the lining membranes of the mouth, excoriation of 
the mouth and such parts of the skin as the acid may 
have touched. The matter vomited effervesces with 
carbonate of lime. The countenance becomes glazed, 
extremities cold and clammy, convulsions, and death 
speedily ensues. Nitric acid produces yellow stains,, 
and sulphuric acid black. 

Treatment. — In all cases of poison the stomach 
pump should be used as soon as possible; warm 
water or mucilaginous drinks should be freely given,, 
and as often pumped out. If sulphuric acid is the 
poison which has been taken, water should not be* 
used, on account of the great heat which is produced 
23 



354 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

by their mixture. The carbonates of soda, potassa, 
lime, and magnesia, and calcined magnesia also, are 
antidotes for the acids. For the acetic, citric, muri- 
atic, sulphuric and tartaric acids, they may be used 
indiscriminately. For the nitric and oxalic acids, 
only carbonates of magnesia and lime can be used 
with safety. Every family has either soda or saleratus 
in the house; in fact nearly all the so-called saleratus 
is nothing more nor less than soda. It should be dis- 
solved and used immediately. A weak lye can be made 
by pouring water upon wood-ashes. If no soda is at 
hand, do this in all cases of poison. It is best to send 
for a good physician, bat if you can cure the patient 
before he arrives, so much the better. If a person 
should be so unfortunate as to swallow any quantity 
of any of the above-named acrid, burning poisons, 
there would be very small probability of saving 
them. It would be very much like swallowing mol- 
ten iron or lead. However, in every case remedies 
should be used as soon as possible, and the best medi- 
cal advice will be necessary, as, if the patient lives 
any length of time, active inflammation will occur. 
Prussic acid, oil of bitter almonds, and laurel water, 
are sedative poisons. They produce nausea, giddi- 
ness, debility, hurried pulse, weight and pain in the 
head, spasms, lock-jaw (tetanus), contracted pupil, 
convulsions, and death. Ammonia is an antidote, 
but it should not be used in a very concentrated 
form. It should be so reduced with water so that it 



ALKALIES. 355 

would not itself act as a caustic ; say a tea-spoonful 
of spirits of ammonia to a tumbler full of water, and 
let this be drank in ten or fifteen minutes. 

ALKALIES AND THEIR SALTS. 

Strong liquor, or water of ammonia, muriate of 
ammonia, or sal ammoniac, caustic (I burn), potash 
liquor, potash, carbonate of potash, or pearlash, and 
salt of tartar, nitrate of potassa, or saltpetre, sul- 
phuret of potassium, or liver of sulphur, and soda. 

Symptoms. — Violent, burning, acrid taste, great 
heat in the throat, with destruction of its lining mem- 
brane ; swallowing difficult, and painful vomiting of 
bloody matter, which turns the yellow of tumeric, 
brown ; acute pain in the stomach, cold sweats, weak- 
ness, hiccough, violent colic pains, with purging, 
bloody stools, and membranous flakes ; death. 

Treatment. — Stomach pump, the vegetable acids, 
such as vinegar, lemon juice, citric and tartaric acid 
in solution, are antidotes to the alkalies and their 
carbonates. The fixed oils, such as castor, linseed, 
almond and olive oils, form soaps with the free alka- 
lies, and thus destroy their caustic effects. Give the 
vegetable acids mentioned above, either of them which 
you may have on hand, (every well-regulated family has 
vinegar), then administer either of the above-named 
oils you have on hand. The quantity to be given 
should be governed somewhat by the quantity of 
alkali which has been taken. Give as much of the 



356 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

acid and oil as has been taken of the poison you wish 
to destroy or neutralize. 

EARTHS AND COMPOUNDS. 

Baryta, carbonate of baryta, chloride of barium, 
nitrate of baryta, and lime. 

The symptoms are like those of the corrosive metals ; 
violent burning in the stomach, vomiting, gripes, diar- 
rhoea, excessive muscular debility, headache, convul- 
sions, death. Lime has no other effect than that of 
a pure irritant. 

Treatment. — Stomach pump. The sulphates of 
soda and magnesia are prompt and effective antidotes 
to all the poisonous salts of baryta. Phosphate of 
soda will also counteract their effects. Lime may be 
neutralized by dilute acids; carbonic acid in soda- 
water, effervescing draught, or yeast would answer a 
good purpose. 

ALCOHOL. 

Brandy, wine, and all spirituous liquors. 

Symptoms. — Intoxication, and, when taken very 
freely, complete insensibility, with symptoms of apo- 
plexy, or paralysis of one side; the countenance 
swollen, and of a dark red color ; the breathing diffi- 
cult, and sometimes stertorous (loud), with a peculiar 
puffing out of the lips ; the breath smells of liquor, 
which serves to distinguish the symptoms from those 
of common apoplexy. 



VOLATILE OILS. 357 

Treatment. — Six grains of white vitriol, with six 
grains of tartarized antimony, should be put into 
the stomach as soon as possible. If the patient can 
not swallow, a flexible tube should be inserted into the 
stomach, and the emetic poured down. Vomiting 
should be encouraged by pouring down large quan- 
tities of warm water, and a large injection of salt and 
water should be thrown into the bowels. The patient 
should be placed in an erect position, and if the 
corentum and other appearances are not improved 
soon after using these means, the jugular vein should 
be opened, and, if the patient is a strong, healthy 
person, take from two to four pints of blood. Cold, 
wet cloths should be applied to the head, particularly 
if the body is hotter than natural. If the extreme- 
ties become cold, warmth and friction should be used, 
and the feet and legs wrapped in strong mustard 
plasters. 

VOLATILE OILS. 

Creosote, Dippel's animal oil, oil of tobacco, oil of 
turpentine, fusil oil. 

The general action of these oils is that of irritant 
poisons, burning pain in the stomach, vomiting, pun- 
gent taste, purging. The oils of turpentine and 
tobacco effect the nervous system. The peculiar 
odor of each oil will be plainly discovered in the 
matter vomited. 

Treatment — Creosote is immediately coagulated 



358 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN". 

by albumen. The white of eggs should be given 
freely for this purpose. Dippel's oil may be counter- 
acted by dilute acids, lemon juice, vinegar, or a solu- 
tion of tartaric acids may be given freely, or olive 
oil, or castor oil, may be given immediately. The 
other oils have no particular antidotes, and their 
effects must therefore be counteracted upon general 
principles. The stomach pump should be used, and 
warm, stimulant drinks administered, the extremities 
kept warm, and head cool, and friction applied upon 
the skin. 

GASES. 

Carbonic acid, or fixed air, carbonic oxide, fumes 
of burning charcoal, chlorine, sulphureted hydrogen. 

Treatment. — The antidote of chlorine is the cau- 
tious inhalation of ammonia, or sulphureted hydro- 
gen. The inflammatory symptoms prove chlorine to 
be treated upon general principles. For the other 
gases, cold effusions to the head, and perhaps blood- 
letting ; at least a vein might be opened and ascer- 
tain if the blood would run ; if so, take a very small 
quantity. Use artificial respiration, rub the extreme- 
ties with some powerful counter-irritant, such as 
cayenne pepper steeped in alcohol, apply mustard 
plasters to the feet, legs, hands, and arms, and on 
the back of the neck. 



METALS. 359 



IODINE AND IODIDE OF POTASSIUM. 

Irritant symptoms; burning pain in the throat, 
lacerating pain in the stomach, and fruitless efforts 
to vomit, suffusion of the eyes, excessive pain and 
tenderness in the region of the stomach. 

Treatment. — Iodine combines with starch and 
forms an insoluble compound. Starch or wheat flour 
should be stirred up in water and administered imme- 
diately. Iodide of potassium has no antidote. Vom- 
iting should be promoted by copious draughts of 
warm water, and inflammation subdued by general 
treatment. 

METALS. 

Antimony, tartar emetic, chloride, or butter of 
antimony, oxide of antimony. 

If vomiting does not take place soon after either 
of these poisons has been taken into the stomach in 
doses of sufficient amount to affect the system, violent 
irritant effects are produced ; burning pain in the pit 
of the stomach, purging, collicky pains, sense of 
tightness in the throat, violent cramps, and repeated 
recurrence of vomiting ; copious draughts of warm 
water, warm sage, or elm tea should be administered, 
and the throat should be tickled with a feather to 
induce free vomiting. Astringent infusions, galls, 
oak, or Peruvian bark, act as antidotes, and should 
be given promptly ; powdered nut galls, or Peruvian 



360 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

bark, may be mixed with water and taken imme- 
diately, while the infusions are being prepared. 

AKSENTC. 

Arsenious acid, or white arsenic, orpiment, or yel- 
low sulphuret of Arsenic, King's yellow, regular or 
red sulphuret of arsenic, fly powder, Fowler's solu- 
tion, arsenical paste, arsenical soap, arsenite of cop- 
per, Schule's green ; many, or all, of the bright 
green, and also white curtain and wall papers contain 
arsenic. 

Symptoms. — A sensation like the burning of Are 
coals in the stomach and bowels, with great tender- 
ness, sickness of stomach, making many vain 
attempts at vomiting, dry throat, with sense of tight- 
ness and thirst, hoarseness and difficulty in speaking, 
the matter vomited often streaked with blood, and 
generally greenish or yellowish, diarrhoea, constant 
feeling as though the bowels would move ; sometimes 
the passage way (anus) is raw, bladder and other 
urine organs affected with excruciating heat and pain 
and water suppressed ; cramps and convulsions, 
clammy sweats, blueness of the extremities, counte- 
nance sunken, eyes red and bright, delirium and 
death. 

Treatment — The hydrated per-oxide of iron, dif- 
fused through water, or the precipitated carbonate, or 
common iron-rust, in very fine powder, to be given in 
•doses of ten to thirty grains, or a quarter to half a 



BISMUTH. 361 

tea-spoonful every five or ten minutes, until relief is 
obtained. This is particularly efficacious when the 
white arsenic has been taken. If the arsenic has 
been taken in the form of Fowler's solution, lime 
water, in copious draughts, may be given. For 
either of the other forms, emetics of sulphate of zinc 
should be given ; take ten grains of sulphate of zinc, 
(white vitriol), dissolve it in a tea-cupful of sage tea, 
and let it be taken at once ; if it does not operate in 
ten minutes, repeat the dose ; let the patient drink, 
often, large quantities of flax-seed or slippery elm- 
tea, or both. Counter-irritants should be used 
freely ; wrap the feet and legs to the knees in strong 
mustard plasters, or rub them with hot alcohol and 
cayenne pepper, until they are nearly blistered. 

In cases where patients die from poisoning from 
arsenic, or any other poison, unless the circumstances 
are known and every thing is plainly understood, an 
inquest should be held, and the contents of the 
stomach submitted to a good chemist for examination. 

BISMUTH. 

Nitrate of bismuth, rose powder, oxide of bismuth. 

Symptoms. — Similar to those produced by other 
irritant poison; general inflammation of the stomach 
and intestines, with suppression of urine, hiccough, 
disagreeable metalic taste in the mouth, vomiting, 
cramps, delirium and death. 

Treatment. — Sweet milk and flax-seed and slip- 



362 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

peiy elm-tea, well sweetened with loaf-sugar, and 
given in frequent and large doses. Leeches may be 
employed, mustard plasters over the stomach and 
bowels, fomentations with bitter herbs, tansy, smart- 
weed, etc., may be boiled up strong, and cloths 
coming hot from this tea, applied often over the 
stomach and bowels. 

COPPER. 

Sulphate of copper, blue vitriol, acetate of copper, 
verdigris, carbonate of copper, blue verditer, arsenite 
of copper, Schule's green. Food cooked in copper 
vessels, or pickles made green by copper. 

Symptoms. — Very similar to those produced by 
arsenic, coppery taste in the mouth, and risings from 
the stomach. Fatal cases are generally terminated 
by convulsions, palsy, and insensibility. 

Treatment. — Albumen is to be administered in 
either of its forms which can be most easily obtained. 
The whites of eggs should be administered freely and 
often ; if they can not be obtained readily milk should 
be administered in large quantities until the eggs can 
be obtained and then they should be given. Vine- 
gar, or any acid, should be avoided. The inflamma- 
tory symptoms which may arise are to be treated on 
general principles, and so likewise the nervous symp- 
toms. 



GOLD — IRON. 363 



GOLD. 

Chloride of gold, fulminating gold. 

Symptoms. — -About the same as those from other 
irritant poisons. These substances cause a pink stain 
on the flesh, and spots of that color may be found 
about the lips and inside the mouth. 

Treatment. — The salts of gold are decomposed by 
sulphate of iron, and this has therefore been recom- 
mended as an antidote. Inflammatory symptoms to 
be treated same as directed for those resulting from 
other poisons. 

IRON. 

Sulphate of iron, copperas, green vitriol, chloride 
of iron. 

Symptoms. — Same as other irritant poisons ; colic 
pains, constant vomiting and purging, violent pain 
in the throat, tightness about the region of the 
stomach, coldness of the skin, and feebleness of the 
pulse. 

Treatment. — Carbonate of soda is an excellent 
antidote to either of these substances. Mucilaginous 
drinks should also be given, and particular symptoms 
relieved as they present themselves. A tea-spoonful 
of carbonate of soda, dissolved in a tea-cupful of 
water, and taken once in half an hour, drinking in 
the mean time copious drinks of flaxseed or slippery 
elm tea. 



364 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



LEAD. 



Acetate of lead, sugar of lead, carbonate of lead, 
white lead, red oxide, or red lead, litharge, wines 
sweetened by lead, water which has been kept in 
vessels of lead, acid food cooked or left standing in 
vessels lined with lead. 

Symptoms. — Great irritation of the stomach and 
intestines, spasms, nervous symptoms, palsy, either 
partial or complete; when taken for sometime, in 
small quantities (as by painters), violent and obsti- 
nate colic, rigidity of the muscles of the abdomen, 
cramps, remission of the pain, obstinate constipation, 
urine diminished, saliva increased, countenance anx- 
ious and gloomy. If relief is not obtained soon, 
giddiness, debility, torpor, convulsions and death 
ensue. The upper extremities are generally affected 
by the palsy. 

Treatment. — Sulphate of magnesia and phosphate 
of soda are good antidotes for the soluble salts of 
lead. For the solid forms, dilute sulphuric acid may 
be drank. These are applicable to the irritant forms 
of poisoning by lead. The sulphate of magnesia 
should be given in doses of a tea-spoonful once an 
hour, and half way between, twenty-five grains of 
soda. When solid lead has been taken, give twenty 
drops of dilute sulphuric acid, in sweetened water, 
once in half an hour. In the chronic form, or lead 
colic, give a tea-spoonful of carbonate of magnesia, 



MEECUEY. 365 

every half hour ; immediately after it is swallowed, 
give twenty drops of dilute sulphuric acid in a little 
water. Repeat these doses until it operates as a 
physic two or three times freely. After the opera- 
tion give a quarter of a grain of morphine, or twenty 
drops of laudanum, once an hour, until the pain and 
spasms are relieved. This may be done while giving 
the physic, if the pain is very severe. At the same 
time mustard plasters should be applied to the stom- 
ach and bowels, and, when they have drawn freely, 
apply cloths wrung out in hot water, or hot spirits 
and water, one part of alcohol to four of water, and 
one ounce of laudanum added to a quart ; these should 
be changed every fifteen minutes. For the palsy, give 
strychnine. Take strychnine, one grain ; water, two 
ounces. Dose, a tea-spoonful three times each day, 
before meals. 

MEECUEY. 

Corrosive sublimate, cyanide of mercury, nitrate of 
mercury, white precipitate, red oxide, or red precipi- 
tate, sulphate, or turbith mineral, vermillion, or red 
sulphuret. 

Symptoms. — Violent symptoms of irritant poison- 
ing, strong metallic taste in the mouth, burning pain 
in the stomach, vomiting and purging, frequently of 
bloody matter, often irritation of the urinary organs, 
and sometimes suppression, tightness and burning in 
the throat, sometimes so great as to prevent speech, 



366 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

countenance generally pale, but sometimes flushed, 
tendency to doze, stupor, convulsions, and death. 

Treatment. — Albumen is the antidote, and must 
be promptly administered, either white of eggs beaten 
up with water, milk, or wheat flour beaten up. Give 
one or all of these in large quantities, say, the white 
of eight or ten eggs, half a pint of milk, and one- 
fourth of a pound of flour. The inflammatory symp- 
toms to be counteracted by the usual means for inflam- 
mation of the stomach and bowels. Gold, finely 
mixed in dust with fine iron filings, is also said to be 
a good antidote. 

SILVEE. 

Nitrate of silver, or lunar caustic. 

Symptoms. — Those of any other irritant poison. 

Treatment. — Chloride of sodium, or common salt, 
immediately decomposes this substance and destroys 
its activity. The inflammatory symptoms are to be 
treated upon general principles. 

TIN. 

Chloride of tin, solution of tin used by dyers, 
oxide of tin, or putty powders.' 

Symptoms. — The same as other irritant poisons, 
and a peculiar tanned appearance of the coats of the 
stomach. 

Treatment, — • New milk to be given copiously, and 



ZINC PHOSPHORUS 367 

the after treatment to be regulated according to the 
symptoms ; nothing else may be needed. 

ZINC. 

Sulphate of zinc, white vitriol, acetate of zinc. 

Symptoms. — Violent vomiting, strong metallic 
and astringent taste, burning pain in the stomach, 
pale countenance, cold extremities, dull eyes, flutter- 
ing pulse. Death seldom ensues, in consequence of 
its acting so quickly, as an emetic. 

Treatment. — Give copious drinks of warm water 
often, to make the vomiting as easy as possible ; 
carbonate of soda, administered in solution, will 
decompose the sulphate of zinc ; give a tea-spoonful 
of carbonate of soda, dissolved in a tea-cupful of water. 
Milk and white of eggs should be given, as they are 
also antidotes. The after treatment must be regu- 
lated by circumstances. 

PHOSPHORUS (FRICTION MATCHES). 

Symptoms. — Those of irritant poisons, pain in the 
stomach and bowels, vomiting, diarrhoea, tenderness 
and tension of the abdomen. 

Treatment. — Give an emetic of sulphate of zinc, 
ten grains in a tea-cupful of sage tea, for an adult ; 
half the quantity for a child ten years old ; after 
that operates give frequently large drinks of flax-seed 
tea, with carbonate of magnesia mixed with it ; two 



368 THE HOUSE WE LIVE LN. 

tea-spoonfuls to a pint of the tea. If any inflamma- 
tory symptoms appear, let them be treated as such. 

GLASS, OR ENAMEL. 

If taken in very coarse powder it produces irrita- 
tion and inflammation of the bowels. 

Treatment. — Large quantities of crumbs of bread 
should be eaten to envelop the particles ; an emetic 
of sulphate of zinc should then be given, and vomit- 
ing be produced by warm drinks. 

ORGANIC POISONS. 

First, Vegetable Poisons. 

IRRITANT POISONS. 

Anemone pulsatilla, or wind flower ; arum macu- 
latum, or wake robin ; bryonia dioica, or bryony ; 
caladium sequinium, or dumbcane ; calla palusfris, 
or water arum ; caltha palustris, or marsh mari- 
gold ; chelidonium majus, or celandine ; clematis 
vitalba, or virgin bower; convolvulus jalapa, or 
jalap; convolvulus scammonia, or scammony; cro- 
ton tiglium or purging croton; cucumis colocyntliis 
or colocynth ; cyclamen europceum, or sow bread ; 
daphne gnidium, or spurge flax; daphne mezereum, 
or mezereon ; delphinium staphisagria, or staves acre ; 
diocia palustris, or swamp leather wood ; equisetum 
hyemale, or scour-grass; euphrobia officinan/zm, or 
euphorbium spurge ; gratiola officinalis or hedge- 
hysop ; hippomane mancinella, or manchineel ; hura 
crepitans, or sand box; hydrocotyle vulgaris, or 



OEGANIC POISONS, 369 

marsh pennywort; jatropha curcas, or indian nut; 
jatropha manihot, or cassada; juniperus sabina, or 
savin (oil of) ; juniperus, virginiana, or bed cedar 
(oil of) ; momordica elaterium, or squirting cucumber ; 
narcissus pseudo narcissus, or daffodil ; pastinax 
sativa, or common parsnip ; pedicularis palustris, or 
marsh louse wort ; phytolacca decandra, or poke ; 
piper cubeba, or cubebs ; plumbago ; europwa, or 
toothwort ; ranunculus acris, and all other species of 
crowfoot ; rhododendron chrysanthemum or oleander ; 
ricinus communis, or castor oil plant; sambucus 
ebulus, or elder, sedum acre, or stone crop, stalagmi- 
tis ; cambogioides, or gamboge ; tanacetum vulgare, 
or tansy, (oil of). 

Symptoms. — A sharp pungent, bitter taste, caus- 
ing great heat, and dryness of the mouth and throat, 
also a sense of tightness in the throat, severe vomit- 
ing, continued even after the stomach is empty,, 
purging, with severe pain in the bowels, pulse 
strong, frequent and regular, breathing quick and 
difficult, appearances of intoxication, the pupil of 
the eye frequently dilated, insensibility, resembling 
death, after which the pulse becomes slow and with- 
out force, and death ensues. 

When these poisons are applied externally, many 
of them produce severe inflammation of the skin, with 
blistering or eruptions. 

Treatment. — Give large drinks of warm water ta 
render the vomiting easier. If symptoms of insen- 
24 



370 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

sibility have come on without vomiting, ten grains 
of sulphate of zinc, with ten grains of ipecac, should 
"be given immediately in sage, or catnip-tea, and 
after its operation an active purgative should be 
given ; mix Epsom salts and carbonate of magnesia, 
equal parts, and give two table-spoonfuls of the mix- 
ture, once in two hours, until it operates freely. 
After the vomiting, a strong infusion of coffee or 
vinegar, diluted with water, should be given. A 
grain of camphor, mixed with twenty drops of ether, 
should be given once in two hours ; the extremities 
should be kept warm, and should be bathed with 
spirits and red pepper hot, and brushed freely ; if 
the insensibility is great, a blister, as large as the 
palm of the hand, should be applied to the inside of 
each ankle. 

Bromine, chlorine and iodine have been recom- 
mended as antidotes to the alkaloids generally, but 
these should be used only under the direction of a 
physician. If the poison is external, sweet cream 
should be freely applied, and the coffee and vinegar 
used internally, and, if the patient is faint and weak, 
stimulants and tonics should be given. The regular 
quinine bitters should be given, if the tongue is 
coated with a brownish coat. 

ACEO-NARCOTIC POISONS. 

iEthusa cynapium, or common fool's parsley; 
aconitum napellus, or monkshood, agasicus, five 



ACKCKSTARCOTIC POISONS. 371 

species ; mushrooms ; amanita muscaria, or truffles ; 
anagallis arvensis, or meadow pimpernel ; anda 
Gomesii ; apocynum androscemifolium, or dogsbone, 
aristolochia clematitis, or birth wort ; arnica montana 
or leopardsbane ; asclepias syriaca, or swallow wort ; 
atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade ; aesculus 
ohioensis, or buckeye ; brucea antidysenterica, or false 
angustura bark ; cerbera, three species, chserophyllum 
sylvestre, bastard hemlock, ratbane, wormseed. Thus 
far we have given the technical and common names ; 
below we give only the common. American hem- 
lock, water hemlock, cissus, fish berries, meadow 
saffron, hemlock, myrtle-leaved sumach, Indian war 
poison, cynanchum, laburnum, thorn apple, fox 
glove, bitter vetch, oil of wintergreen, hsemanthus, 
black hellebore, paddock stool, ipecacuanha, lathyrus, 
camphor, Indian tobacco, darnel, pride of China, 
mountain mercury, common oleander, tobacco, hem- 
lock drop wort, barbadine, Jamaica dogwood, poly- 
gala venenosa, (of Java), poison vine, poison oak, 
locust tree, rue, blood root, squill, sea onion, ergot, or 
spurred rye, procumbent water parsnip, pink root, 
St. Ignatius' bean, nux vomica, skunk cabbage, tree 
of Java, diseased wheat, upas tree, white hellebore, 
American hellebore, war poison of Guiana, diseased 
maize. 



372 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



NAECOTIC. 

Baneberry bitters, almond peach, yellow jessamine, 
fly poison, white henbane, black henbane, mountain 
ivy, strong-scented lettuce, opium, morphine, etc. ; 
poppy, herb of Paris, wild orange, cherry, laurel, 
black cherry, cluster cherry, wild cherry, bitter sweet, 
mountain ash and yew. 

Symptoms. — - Narcotic vegetable poisons, if taken 
into the stomach, or applied to a wound, cause the 
following symptoms : Stupor, numbness, heaviness in 
the head, desire to vomit, a sort of intoxicated, 
stupid air, pupil of the eye dilated, lively, and some- 
times furious delirium, frequent pain, convulsions 
of different parts of the body, or palsy of the limbs. 
The pulse is variable, but at first generally strong, 
slow and full, often not over forty beats in a minute ; 
the breathing is quick, and there is great anxiety and 
dejection, which, if not speedily relieved, ends in 
death. 

Treatment — The first thing is to empty the 
stomach as soon as possible ; if a stomach pump can 
be procured and operated immediately, do this, 
washing out the stomach thoroughly ; if not, give 
twenty grains of sulphate of zinc, with the same 
quantity of ipecac, and one or two ounces of spirits 
immediately, and let the patient drink often large 
draughts of very strong coffee ; tickle the throat with 
the finger to assist the operation. At the same time, 



NAECOTIC POISONS. 373 

copious injections of Castile soap suds and water- 
gruel should be administered, and the stomach and 
bowels emptied as soon as possible. After the 
stomach and bowels are emptied, let the patient 
drink freely of strong, hot coffee. Keep the patient 
awake ; keep the head cool and the extremities 
warm. Keep up the action of the skin by frequent 
and thorough friction. 

I can not give a better idea of how to manage a 
case of this sort of poisoning than to give a history 
of a case that occurred in 1846. I was living at 
Libertyville, Lake County, Illinois, at the time. A 
sister was living with me, and was sick of a fever. 
I sent for my father to come and visit her, from 
Bloomingdale, about twenty miles distant. He came 
just at night, on Saturday. There was considerable 
sickness in the country at the time, and he was con- 
stantly busy, consequently he was tired and jaded. 
He remained over night, and did not arise in the 
morning until six A.M. We had breakfast at seven 
o'clock, and at the breakfast table he complained of 
a bad taste in his mouth, and said his head felt heavy 
and dull, ached some, and he felt very sleepy. I 
asked if he felt sick when he arose in the morning. 
He replied that he did not feel very well, and went 
to the pantry to get a drink of water, and seeing my 
bottle of bitters standing upon the shelf he had taken 
a drink, hoping it would make him feel better. I 
asked him what sort of a bottle he had drank from, 



374 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

and how much lie had drank. He answered both 
questions, and I knew immediately that he had drank 
at least two ounces of laudanum, enough to kill eight 
or ten common men, and that it had been down at 
least an hour. My feelings, and those of the house- 
hold, may be better imagined than described. When 
I informed him what he had done, no more breakfast 
was eaten by any of us. I gave him immediately 
half a tea-spoonful of sulphate of zinc, and the same 
quantity of ipecac, and sent a messenger for Dr. J. H. 
Foster, who lived in the place. He was there in ten 
minutes, and we repeated the emetic once in ten min- 
utes until we had given him one ounce each of zinc 
and ipecac. We had in the mean time given him 
two pounds of coffee, and half a pint of brandy. We 
kept pouring cold water on his head, and rubbing his 
hands and feet. Over two hours had now elapsed ; 
his face was bloated like that of a drunkard who had 
been on a spree for a week, but he had his senses 
enough to know his situation and his danger, and he 
told us to try Epsom salts, as he never could take a 
dose without vomiting. We dissolved a pound in a 
small quantity of hot water, and he drank the solu- 
tion at once. To our great joy, it had not fairly 
reached his stomach before it came back, and with it 
the contents of his stomach, breakfast, emetics, coffee, 
brandy, etc., etc. We now had some hope, and 
worked with redoubled energy, bathing his head, 
feet, and hands ; and also trying to procure an opera- 



CASE OF POISONING. 375 

tion from his bowels. About ten o'clock we were 
successful, but by this time he became very sleepy, 
and we found that we could not keep him awake 
unless we kept him in motion. Dr. Foster took hold 
of one side and Mr. Wm. J. Noble, my brother-in- 
law, who happened there on a visit, of the other, and 
they marched him for two hours, causing him to walk 
more than five miles, he constantly begging them to 
let him rest, just for a minute or two, and promising 
that he would not go to sleep ; but they would not 
hear him, for they felt that his life depended upon 
his being kept awake, and they keep him " marching 
on," like John Brown's soul. About twelve o'clock 
they returned to the house, and he took a seat in the 
large arm chair out doors, in the shade of the house, 
and we resumed the application of cold water to his 
head, and the friction to his feet and hands. We suc- 
ceeded in keeping him awake until one o'clock, when 
we allowed him to go to bed, but then he could not 

w 

sleep, nor did he sleep Hve minutes at a time for the next 
thirty-six hours. He was very nervous all the next 
night, and I was obliged to keep him company until 
nearly morning. Occasionally he would drop away 
for a minute and awake with a start. He was very 
talkative, and his memory seemed very acute. I do 
not believe that one person out of a hundred could 
have been saved after taking so much opium, and 
having it down as long as he did ; but he was of a 
very strong constitution, and we worked faithfully for 
his life. 



376 THE HOUSE WE LIVE Itf. 



POISONOUS MUSHROOMS. 



Agaricus muscarus, or fly agaric ; agaricus piper- 
atus, or pepper agaric ; agaricus necator, or deadly 
agaricus bulbosus, or bulbous agaric ; agaricus chantar 
rellus, or champignon. 

Symptoms. — Pain, heat and sickness at the stom- 
ach, pain and heat in the bowels, great thirst, vomit- 
ing and purging, convulsions and fainting, pulse small 
and frequent, delirium, dilated pupil, and stupor, cold 
sweats, and death. 

Poisonous mushrooms may be distinguished from 
those that are not poisonous by their botanical quali- 
ties, and also by the following : The poisonous grow 
in wet and shady places, and have a nauseous and 
sickly odor, are softer and more open and porous, 
have a dirty-looking surface ; sometimes a gaudy color, 
or many very distinct hues, particularly if they have 
been covered with an envelope ; they have soft, bulb- 
ous stalks, grow rapidly, and corrupt very quickly. 
The better way for people that are not good botan- 
ists, is not to eat mushrooms of any sort. 

Treatment.— The stomach and bowels are to be 
cleared by an emetic of ten grains sulphate of zinc, 
and the same quantity of ipecac, with plenty of warm 
drinks. Large stimulating injections are to be admin- 
istered immediately, say soap suds, with a table-spoon- 
ful of spirits to each quart, as soon as the emetic has 
operated freely. Epsom salts should be given in 



ANIMAL POISONS. 377 

large doses until they operate, a table-spoonful once 
in two hours. After the poison is evacuated, fifteen 
drops of ether, with two or three tea-spoonfuls of 
brandy, may be given every half hour, or longer, as 
circumstances may require. But if inflammatory 
symptoms appear, stimulants should be omitted and 
appropriate means used to subdue the inflammation. 

ANIMAL POISONS. 
POISONOUS FISH. 

Old wife, crawfish, land crab, yellow-billed sprat, 
gray snapper, hyne, dolphin, blue parrot fish, conger- 
eel, mussel, smooth-bottle fish, barracada, grooper, 
rock fish, Portuguese man-of-war, Spanish mackerel, 
king fish, bonetta, porgee, tunny, and blower. 

Symptoms. — In a short time after eating the fish, 
a feeling of heaviness is felt at the stomach, and slight 
headache and dizziness, also a sense of heat about the 
head and eyes, some thirst, and often a rash appears 
on the skin, and in many cases death ensues. 

Treatment — Emetic, same as prescribed for mush- 
rooms, with large quantities of warm water; after 
vomiting freely some active purgative should be 
given. Vinegar and water, well sweetened with 
sugar, should be drank freely after the emetic has 
operated, and the body should be sponged with vine- 
gar and water. Also soda, or saleratus water, should 
be drank at intervals, but not within an hour of 
taking the vinegar. If spasms ensue after the opera- 



378 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

tion of the emetic, laudanum or morphine should be 
given in large doses, once an hour, until they are 
relieved. If inflammation should occur, the usual 
means of removing that should be resorted to, the 
same as for inflammation after any other poison. 

POISONOUS SEKPENTS. 

Copperhead, moccasin, horned viper, of Western 
Africa, viper, black viper, rattle-snake, five species, 
and water viper. 

Symptoms. — Sharp pain in the wound, which 
soon extends over the limb, or whole body ; great 
swelling, at first hard and pale, then red, livid and 
black, and like mortification in appearance ; faint- 
ings, vomitings, convulsions, often jaundice, pulse 
small, frequent and irregular ; breathing difficult ; 
cold sweats ; the eyes fail and the intellectual facul- 
ties are deranged ; inflammation and sometimes ex^ 
tensive suppuration and mortification, followed by 
death. 

Treatment. — First, tie a ligature tight above the 
wound to prevent the poison from going into the cir- 
culation ; second, cut with a sharp instrument to the 
bottom of the bite, or bites, and wash the wound 
freely with warm water, made strong with ley, 
spirits of hartshorn, soda or saleratus, or any other 
alkalie that is handy ; then apply cupping glasses, 
and draw out all the blood you can that way ; then 
apply actual cautery, lunar caustic, or butter of anti- 



POISONOUS INSECTS. 379 

mony ; then cover the wound with lint, dipped in a 
mixture of equal parts of sweet oil and strong spirits 
of hartshorn ; now remove the ligature if the limb 
is swelled much. 

Give warm drinks, with small doses of spirits of 
hartshorn, say ten drops, once in two or three hours, 
to cause perspiration ; the patient to be kept well 
covered in bed, and a little warm wine given occa- 
sionally. It is now strongly recommended to give 
the patients spirits enough to keep them drunk, and, 
if there are symptoms of mortification, I would 
advise this course. Arsenic has also been strongly 
recommended; this might do good from its tonic 
effects. 

SPANISH, OE BLISTEKING FLY, AND POTATOE FLY 

POISON. 

Symptoms. — Nauseous odor of the breath, acrid 
taste, burning heat in the throat, stomach and abdo- 
men, frequent vomiting, sometimes bloody, with large 
and bloody stools ; severe pain in the stomach, pain- 
ful and obstinate erections of the , without any 

voluptuous idea, heat in the bladder, and constant 
desire to make water without the power to do so, 
frightful convulsions, delirium and death. 

Treatment — Vomiting to be excited by drinking 
sweet oil, sugar and water, milk and flax-seed tea very 
freely; injections of flax-seed or slippery elm tea 
should be administered freely ; if symptoms of in- 



380 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

flammation of the stomach, kidney or bladder super- 
vene, they must be treated as directed in those cases. 
Camphor, dissolved in ether and sweet oil, may be 
rubbed over the belly and thighs. 

VENOMOUS INSECTS. 

Tarantala, scorpion, hornet, wasp, bee, gnat and 
gad-fly. 

Symptoms. — In general, the sting of these insects 
occasions only a slight degree of pain and swelling ; 
but sometimes the symptoms are more violent, and 
fever and sickness are produced by the intensity of 
the pain. 

Treatment. — Hartshorn and oil may be rubbed on 
the affected part, and a piece of lint or rag, wet in 
the same, or in salt and water, may be kept upon it 
until the pain is removed. Five to ten drops of 
hartshorn may be given, once in two or three hours, 
in a little sweetened water, and a glass of wine may 
be taken occasionally. The sting can generally be 
removed by making strong pressure around it by the 
barrel of a watch-key. 

SALIVA OF THE EABID DOG. 

Symptoms. — After an uncertain interval from the 
time of the bite, pain or uneasiness is felt in the 
bitten part, though the wound may have been healed 
for a long time; languor, anxiety, uneasiness, spasms, 
horror, disturbed sleep, difficult respiration succeed, 



HYDEOPHOBIA. 381 

and soon are very much increased ; violent convul- 
sions affect the whole body, hideously disturbing the 
muscles of the face ; the eyes are red and protruded, 
the tongue swells and often hangs out, and viscid 
saliva flows from the mouth. There is pain in the 
stomach, with bilious vomitings, a horror of fluids, 
and difficulty of drinking them. All these symp- 
toms grow worse and worse, until death mercifully 
relieves the victim. 

Treatment. — It is more easily prevented than 
cured ; it should be the law, violation of which should 
be punished by death, not to allow dogs to roam at 
large, at any time, unless securely muzzled. 

It is not known that any case was ever cured, 
although accounts of cures have been published 
many times, and nearly every article of much power, 
known as a medicine, has been used, beside "mad 
stones," charms, etc., etc. 

Yet every case that comes within our knowledge 
dies ; the cures are far off in some other country or 
state. The bitten part should be cut out whenever 
it is ascertained that a person has been bitten by a 
mad dog, even if the wound has completely healed ; 
the part should then be washed with warm water, so 
long as it will bleed ; then caustic should be applied 
to every part of the surface, and the wound covered 
with a poultice, and healed by the slow process of 
granulations. Nothing milder has the least chance 
of success, and there is nothing certain, even in this. 



CHAPTEE XX. 



SAESAPAEILLA SYEUP. 



Take English sarsaparilla, six ounces ; rasped guaia- 
cum wood, two ounces ; bruise the root, put into an 
iron vessel with four quarts of water, cover and boil 
gently four hours, so as to have two quarts when 
done ; then strain, add one pound of loaf sugar, and 
one pint of pure spirits, also half an ounce of iodide 
of potassium. Dose, a wine-glassful three times a 
day. 

This will do good more certainly than any of the 
many preparations of sarsaparilla that are advertised 
to cure so many diseases. It is useful in all diseases 
of the skin, and is valuable as an alterative when any 
remedy of that sort is necessary. It will stimulate 
the liver to action, and will also act as a tonic. I 
have for some years believed that nearly all its virtue 
was due to the iodide of potassium, and therefore have 
given that article alone, dissolved in water, one ounce 
of the potassium to a pint of water. Dose for an 
adult, a tea-spoonful three times per day before meals. 
I have used this remedy for several years in the place 
of calomel, and have found its action on the liver far 
more sure than that drug, but more slow. 



ALTEEATIVE TONIC. 383 

The above, without the iodide of potassium, is 
father's recipe, and where he prescribes sarsaparilla 
syrup, that should be left out, unless he directs it to 
be put in. 

ALTEEATIVE TONIC AND EXPECTORANT SYRUP. 

Lycopus (sweet bugle), half a pound ; princess 
pine, half a pound ; balm of Gilead buds, four ounces ; 
uva ursi, half a pound; put the above ingredients 
into an iron vessel, with six quarts of water, cover it, 
boil gently two hours, then strain upon one pound 
of loaf sugar, let it cool, then add (if winter one pint, 
if summer one quart), pure spirits, one ounce of iodide 
potassium, and one ounce of essence of wintergreen. 
If there is not four quarts add water enough to make 
that quantity. 

This is an excellent medicine when the lungs are 
weak, combined with a sore throat, and a general 
debilitated state of the system. Used in connection 
with mustard plasters over the chest every night, 
or some other external irritant over the sore spot, 
whether lungs or throat, I have known this syrup fre- 
quently to cure patients who had been told by several 
good physicians that their lungs were badly diseased. 

Dose, a wine-glassful before each meal, and upon 
retiring at night. 



384 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



CASCAEILLA BITTEES, 



Cascarilla bark, two ounces; cassia, half an ounce; 
conella, two drachms ; pulverize ; put to a half pint of 
spirits; let it stand twelve hours, shaking occasion- 
ally, then add a pint of water, and two ounces of white 
sugar. Dose, a table-spoonful or two before each 
meal. P. S. 

This is an excellent tonic for any body, at any time, 
when a tonic is needed, particularly for a weak or 
" all gone feeling." It is valuable for women who 
are nursing, and feel debilitated thereby. 

COLIC, OE WINE BITTEES. 

Winters' bark and anise seed, half an ounce of each ; 
aloes, one ounce ; ginger, once ounce ; powder sepa- 
rately, and put all into one and a half pints of pure 
spirits, and a half pint of syrup. Dose, from a tea- 
spoonful to a table-spoonful at bed time, once or twice 
each week, or when symptoms make it necessary it 
may be taken twice each day for a week or two ; the 
object being to take enough so that it will operate 
gently the next morning as physic. Persons troubled 
with wind in the stomach and bowels, causing pain, 
will find this an unfailing remedy. P. S. 

MEDICAMENTUM. 

Rhubarb, one ounce ; socatrine aloes, half ounce ; 
ginger, half ounce ; pure spirits, half pint ; molasses, 



Sedgwick's liniment. 385 

half pint ; pulverize ; mix, and shake now and then 
for three or four days. Dose, from thirty drops to a 
table-spoonful, just enough, according to the age of 
the patient, to loosen the bowels as often as neces- 
sary, perhaps once in a week or two. 

This medicine was sold largely, for three dollars 
per pint, under the name of "Dr. Roberts' Welch 
Medicamentum," a number of years ago. If giyen 
about once in two to four weeks to children, they will 
not be troubled with worms, or with any bilious dis- 
ease. I know several families who have reared large 
numbers of children, without sickness, in consequence 
of using this remedy. 

sedgwick's liniment. 

Aqua ammonia, twenty-three ounces ; muriate of 
ammonia, two ounces. Put these together, and 
shake them until the muriate of ammonia is dis- 
solved ; then add alcohol, one quart ; camphor gum y 
two ounces ; laudanum, six ounces ; oil origanum, 
two ounces. 

This liniment was made by me, fifteen or twenty 
years ago, as an external application in a case of 
swelled leg, or what is called " milk leg," for a 
patient I had at that time; it operated like a charm ; 
since then I have sold barrels of it, and have given 
the recipe to many friends. It has been used on 
horses, as well as on the human system; it is believed 
by hundreds who have used it for years to be the 
25 



386 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EN". 

best liniment ever compounded. The laudanum and 
camphor in it relieve pain ; the ammonia and alcohol 
reduce the inflammation; the muriate of ammonia 
and origanum are the best absorbents known ; conse- 
quently, it is calculated to relieve pain, reduce inflam- 
mation and swelling, by promoting absorption ; it is 
the thing for sprains, bruises, pain, inflammation or 
swelling, on man or beast. Try it and you will not 
be without it. I have sold quarts of it for piles, the 
result of an accidental trial by one of my neighbors. 
I would not advise it in this disease ; it seems a 
harsh remedy to me, but hundreds have used it, and 
every one, as far as I know, reports it a success. 

CURE FOR CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 

Gum myrrh, six ounces ; guiacum wood, one 
ounce ; aloes, one ounce ; balsam copaiva, one ounce ; 
oil sassafras, two ounces ; balsam peru, two ounces ; 
gum guiacum, two ounces ; alcohol, two quarts. 
Put the ingredients together ; let them stand ten 
days, shaking frequently. Dose, a tea-spoonful, 
morning and evening. 

Chronic rheumatism frequently baffles the skill of 
the best physician ; what cures one will not another. 
It is not known what rheumatism is, or rather what 
is the cause of the pain; there have been various 
theories in reference to it. It has been said that 
there was an exudation of some substance between 
the muscles or tendons, which, being a foreign sub- 



CUKE FOE EHEUMATISM. 387 

stance, caused irritation and pain ; by some that sub- 
stance is said to be acid, and consequently alkalies 
should be given ; others say it is an alkali, and 
acids should be given; others maintain that this 
theory is all humbug. The above remedy was pre- 
scribed by a noted physician of Philadelphia, and 
has proved a success in many cases. Inflammatory 
rheumatism I have treated as a misplaced intermit- 
tent, and with marked success. Give full doses of 
quinine bitters from the start, every two hours, and 
give morphine enough to keep the patient free from 
pain, or nearly so, every four to six hours a dose ; 
from one-fourth to a grain at a dose, or more, if 
necessary; keep off the pain at all hazards, and 
opium in some form is the only sure remedy. Keep 
the patient quiet, and the quinine and stimulants 
will soon effect a cure ; external applications are 
dangerous, and should seldom be used. I knew two 
patients with this disease killed in one day, through 
the influence of a thunder shower. They were both 
apparently doing well, but before the storm was 
over, they complained of pain about the heart; at 
the same time the swelling was fast leaving the part 
affected ; the disease was translated or transferred, 
and in a few hours they were dead ; one of these was 
a boy in Bloomingdale, under my care ; the other 
was a young man at DeKalb, about twenty years 
old, son of an old friend. I happened there a few 
days after the death of the boy at B., and, upon 



388 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

inquiry, found that the young man died about the 
same hour of the same day ; that the storm was just 
about as severe there as at B. ; and that all the cir- 
cumstances were about the same. This was fourteen 
years ago, but ever since, if I have had a patient 
with inflammatory rheumatism, I have watched for 
and dreaded thunder storms. 

Thompson's number six. 

Gum myrrh, half pound ; capsicum, five drachms ; 
pure spirits, five pints. 

This is the genuine No. 6, or hot drops, so noted 
in the Thompsonian or Botanic practice. It is often 
valuable as a stimulant, and also as a counter-irritant. 
By adding opium to it, you have the basis of the 
numerous "Pain Killers," " Instant Relief," "Destroyer 
of Pain," etc., etc., that haved flooded the country for 
the past ten or fifteen years. Perry Davis, although 
he himself died several years since, is still killing 
pain and coining money by selling this mixture of 
cayenne pepper, opium, and spirits. 

SCEOEULOUS PLASTER. 

Sulphate of iron (copperas), two ounces; Arme- 
nian boll, two drachms ; pine tar, one pint ; strong 
beer, two pints; Venice turpentine, two drachms; 
digest these ingredients by a moderate heat, until 
about the consistence of tar, which will take about 
twenty-four hours. This should be spread upon 



salt eheum:. 389 

leather, and makes a very good dressing for a scrofu- 
lous sore or swelling. P. S. 

SALT EHEUM. 

This is a disease of the skin. Webster defines it 
"a vague and indefinite, popular name, applied to 
almost all non-febrile cutaneous affections which are 
common among adults, excepting ring- worm and itch." 
Women who wash dishes in cold weather are often 
subject to it. Some persons will be troubled with it 
in winter, and not in summer, and vice versa. Some- 
times it is readily cured, but often it is very obsti- 
nate. The means of cure are to cease doing what 
caused it, if possible, and to cleanse the blood, if long- 
continued. 

For this purpose take the sarsaparilla syrup, or the 
iodide of potassium, for several months, at the same 
time use an ointment made as follows : 

Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol), and nitric acid, 
each two drachms; quicksilver, two drachms; put 
the nitric acid and quicksilver together ; when chemi- 
cal union has taken place, mix all the ingredients 
with one ounce of hog's lard ; if it is still too thin, add 
more lard until it is of the consistence of salve. 
Wash the salt rheum once each day with soft water 
and Castile soap ; when wiped dry smear over with 
the ointment. 



390 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



ITCH. 

There are several varieties of this disease. The 
common itch of the Eastern States, and the prairie 
itch, are the kinds commonly seen. It need not be 
described ; every person is familiar with it. I have 
known it to be in one school for the last eighteen 
years. If it has not been long in the system it will 
be easilv cured. 

Take Venice turpentine, four ounces ; red precipi- 
tate, two ounces; fresh butter (not salted), twenty 
ounces ; oil of turpentine, two ounces ; warm the but- 
ter, but not melt it / when warm enough so that you 
can stir it easily, shake in the precipitate slowly and 
steadily, stirring it in the mean time; continue to 
stir for fifteen minutes, then add the turpentine in 
the same way, and stir fifteen minutes more. A little 
oil of cinnamon, or bergamot, or other perfume, may 
be added, if desired. 

Take fine-cut tobacco, one ounce ; sulphate of cop- 
per (blue vitriol), half ounce; boiling water, one 
pint; let it steep ten or fifteen minutes, then strain 
and bottle. 

At bed time wash the patient thoroughly where 
there is any sore, with Castile soap and soft water, 
wipe dry, and wet with the wash, let that dry itself, 
then touch every sore place lightly with the oint- 
ment. Let clean under-clothing be put on every 
morning. 



SCALD HEAD. 391 

. If the case is light this will cure it in a few days, 
but if it has been long-continued the blood must be 
cleansed by give full doses of iodide of potassium for 
two or three months. If the tongue is coated, and 
the patient feverish, quinine bitters must be given 
once in three hours through the day until these symp- 
toms cease. This course will never fail to effect a 
permanent cure. Spirits turpentine alone will cure 
mild cases ; so will spirits camphor. It is contagious, 
but only by actual contact. Children can be pre- 
vented from taking it by wearing a thread of woolen 
yarn, greased with this ointment, around the waist 
and each arm. 

SCALD HEAD. 

This disease is chiefly confined to children ; it is a 
troublesome and loathsome affection. It commences 
at the edge of the hair and behind the ears, and 
gradually spreads, until it covers the whole scalp, all 
forming one scab. It is easily cured by following the 
course prescribed for the itch. The iodide of potas- 
sium to be given about a week before using the wash 
and ointment. I have cured a great many very bad 
cases, in a few days, with this treatment, after good 
physicians had prescribed for them, without benefit, 
for months. 

All chronic diseases of the skin in children are so 
near alike that the same course of treatment will 
answer for all alike. 



392 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



EHUBAEB SYEUP. 

Rhubarb, one ounce ; Epsom salts, two ounces ; 
ginger, half an ounce. Pour on to these one quart 
of boiling water, cover and steep half an hour ; 
strain to one pound of loaf-sugar; let it cool, and add 
one-half pint spirits and one-half ounce of essence 
wintergreen. Dose for adults, one to two table- 
spoonfuls; for child one year old, one to two tea- 
spoonfuls. P. S. 

COUGH ELIXIE. 

Ipecac, one drachm; bicarb, soda, half drachm; 
boiling water, four ounces ; steep fifteen minutes and 
add paregoric, half an ounce, molasses, a table-spoon- 
ful ; shake thoroughly together. P, S. 

This is an excellent remedy for colds in children or 
adults, given in doses of from a tea-spoonful to a 
table-spoonful, the object being to give as much as 
the patient will bear without vomiting ; after taking 
a dose or two you can tell just how much. If it is 
desired to use it for adults, and there is pain and 
soreness in the lungs, attended with irritating cough, 
add two grains of sulphate of morphine. It is better 
than any expectorant or cough balsam sold, and will 
not cost one-quarter as much. 



QUININE BITTERS. 393 



QUININE BITTERS. 

Take quinine, thirty grains ; water, one ounce ; 
tartaric acid, thirty grains ; shake until the quinine 
is dissolved, then add brandy or pure spirits, four 
ounces; loaf-sugar, two ounces; water, eleven ounces. 

P. S. 

If it is to be given for bilious diarrhoea or dysen- 
tery, use thirty drops of sulphuric acid in place of 
the tartaric acid. 

It will be seen that a table-spoonful of these bitters 
contains just about one grain of quinine, conse- 
quently a table-spoonful is a common dose for an 
adult, and a tea-spoonful for a child from one to five 
years old. If a larger dose of quinine is desired, 
give it in powder. Often the stomach is in such 
condition that it will not dissolve quinine, conse- 
quently in all cases where the spirits can be borne, it 
is much more sure to give it in this form. 

Alterative wash No 1. Four grains sulphate cop- 
per (blue vitriol), to one ounce of soft water. 

P. S. 

Alterative wash No. 2. Corrosive sublimate, one 
grain to one ounce of soft water. P. S. 

Alterative wash No. 3. Sulphate of copper, four 
grains; gum myrrh, four grains; fine-cut tobacco, 



394 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

four grains, or in that proportion, to one ounce of 
soft water. Pulverize the ingredients, and pour on 
them the water, boiling hot ; cover and let it steep 
fifteen minutes, then cool and pour off from the dregs 
or strain. P. S. 

COMMON LINIMENT. 

Spirits camphor, two ounces ; laudanum, one 
ounce ; aqua ammonia, F. F. F., one ounce ; oil 
origanum, one ounce. Shake together. P. S. 

NITKO-MURIATIC BATH. 

Nitric acid, one ounce ; muriatic acid, one ounce ; 
soft water, two ounces ; mix. Put one and one-half 
drachms of this to one pint of soft water, which 
makes the bath. If it does not produce a tickling 
or pricking sensation, add a little more of the mix- 
ture. It should be prepared in an earthen, glass or 
wooden vessel, as it will corrode iron or tin. Be 
careful not to get it on your clothes, as it will color 
or destroy them. P. S. 

ANTIMONIAL OINTMENT. 

Tartarized antimony and hog's lard, equal parts, 
mixed thoroughly together, and rubbed thoroughly 
on where you wish to make a sore. If it is desirable 
to produce sores immediately, the part should first be 
blistered, or nearly so, by strong mustard poultices. 
"When pimples appear the ointment should be rubbed 



MUSTARD PLASTERS. 395 

between them, unless yon wish to have a deep and 
lasting sore. 

MUSTARD PLASTERS. 

I have found in my experience that very few per- 
sons know how to make a good mustard poultice. 
Take of corn meal a sufficient quantity, scald it until it 
is of the consistency of paste, or so that it will spread 
well ; spread it upon a thick cloth, from a quarter to 
half an inch thick, then sprinkle it over thick with 
mustard, (have good strong mustard), then lay a thin 
piece of cloth over the mustard ; now baste around 
the edges to keep the poultice from scattering in the 
bed ; wet with vinegar the front or mustard side of 
the poultice, and lay the back on the stove or hot 
griddle to warm ; apply it warm as possible without 
burning. Such a plaster as this will draw, if the 
mustard is good, in from fifteen minutes to half an 
hour. When it is desirable to apply the plaster every 
day it should be taken off before it blisters. For 
young children the mustard should be stirred in with 
the meal after it is scalded ; it is not as strong after 
it is scalded. Wheat bran, or shorts, or even buck- 
wheat flour, may be used, but meal is decidedly the 
best. Or a mustard plaster may be made by mixing 
clear mustard with vinegar. 

Horse-radish leaves wilted and wet in vinegar, 
applied warm, will answer very well in place of a 



396 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

mustard plaster ; or the root of horse-radish, grated 
or pounded, and mixed with vinegar, will do as well. 

CAMPHORATED OIL. 

Take gum camphor, one ounce ; ether enough to 
dissolve the camphor (one ounce is enough if it is 
strong); sweet oil, three ounces : shake well together. 

This is a good remedy to use on the throat and 
chest in cases of croup, and in lung fever in children. 
Rub it thoroughly over the throat and chest two or 
three times daily. It is also an excellent remedy 
for chapped hands. 

CAMPHOR ICE. 

White wax, one ounce; spermaceti, one ounce; 
sweet oil, one ounce ; melt these ingredients together, 
and, while warm, stir in as much strong spirits of 
camphor as will mix ; keep stirring until cool. For 
chapped hands, or face, this beats any thing I ever 
saw. If the hands are bad, rub on as much as you 
can, heating it in, just before you retire for the night ; 
put on a pair of kid gloves and wear until morning. 

For chafed or raw places in children, use common 
starch, pulverized nut galls, or Peruvian or strong oak 
bark ; let either of these be pulverized fine as flour, 
then tied up in a piece of old linen cloth and dusted 
on once each day, or as often as the parts are wet. 
Keep them washed clean with Castile soap and soft 
water. 



de wee's tincture. 397 



LIVER PILLS. 



Beef gall, dried to the consistency of paste, blue 
mass, and quinine, equal parts by weight, pounded 
together and made into pills a little larger than a cor- 
rective pill. P. S. 



ALTERATIVE EYE WASH. 



Blue vitriol, sixteen grains to a half pint of pure 
water, and a table-spoonful of honey. Wet the eye- 
lids in this once or twice a day when there are granu- 
lations. P. S. 



DE WEE'S TINCTURE. 



Take of best gum guaiacum in powder, two ounces ; 
carbonate of soda, or potassa, one drachm and a half; 
allspice in powder, one ounce; diluted alcohol, one 
pound ; digest for a few days. The dose is a tea- 
spoonful three times per day, to be gradually increased 
if necessary. 

This tincture has been used for a long time as a 
remedy when there is derangement of the " monthly 
turns ; " and also as a remedy in chronic rheumatism. 
Gum guaiacum, powdered fine, and mixed equal parts 
with sulphur, and taken, a tea-spoonful of the mix- 
ture in molasses, once or twice per day, is often bene- 
ficial in chronic rheumatism. 



398 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



EYE WATER. 



Sugar of lead, four grains ; sulphate of zinc (white 
vitriol), eight grains ; tincture of opium, half ounce, 
(or two grains of morphine is better) ; the white of 
one fresh laid egg; put these ingredients to eight 
ounces of perfectly pure and soft water, in a bottle 
that will hold at least half a pint ; stake steadily for 
half an hour, then let it stand and settle ; pour off 
the clear liquid, which is now ready for use. P. S. 

This is an excellent remedy for weak eyes, particu- 
larly after an attack of inflammation, but it should 
not be used when there is acute inflammation, attended 
with pain and fever ; in such cases follow strictly the 
treatment prescribed for inflammation of the eyes. 



COUGH EMULSION. 



Gum arabic, thick mucilage, three ounces ; balsam 
copaiva, three ounces ; loaf sugar, three ounces ; mix 
these thoroughly together in one vessel ; take another 
vessel and put therein half an ounce of ipecac, four 
ounces of water, four ounces of paregoric, and one 
ounce of loaf sugar ; mix these thoroughly also ; then 
put both together and stir or shake until all is 
thoroughly blended. 

This is a very good medicine for cough, attended 
with soreness of the lungs. In the State of New 
York we used to make and sell large quantities of it. 



COUGH PILLS. 399 

It is not very pleasant to take on account of the bal- 
sam contained in it. P. S. 

COUGH PILLS, NUMBER ONE. 

Sulphate of copper, fifteen grains ; tart, antimony, 
fifteen grains; ipecac, forty grains; opium, forty 
grains; powdered squills, one hundred and forty 
grains; calomel, thirty grains; pulverize; mix and 
divide into one hundred and twenty pills ; from one 
to two a dose. P. S. 

When there is high arterial action, and calomel 
and antimony are indicated as admissable, this will 
be found an excellent cough remedy. We very sel- 
dom prescribe them in this climate. 

COUGH PILLS, NUMBER TWO. 

Opium and ipecac, each, thirty grains; sulphate 
of copper and tart, antimony, each, eight grains; 
powdered squills, sixty grains ; mix and make sixty 
pills. 

These can be given for cough any time, and one 
pill is ordinarily a dose. P. S. 

COUGH PILLS, NUMBER THREE. 

Gum ammoniacum, one hundred and eighty grains ; 
sulphate of copper, four and a half grains; opium, 
twelve grains; mix and divide into thirty-six pills, 
and give one every eight hours. P. S. 



400 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

These pills are particularly beneficial when the 
cough is attended with a copious expectoration, and 
it is desirable to check it. I have seen them operate 
like a charm in numerous cases of this nature. 

SIMPLE COUGH PILLS. 

Ipecac, eight grains; sul. morphine, one grain; 
mix thoroughly, and make eight pills. Dose, one as 
often as necessary to quiet cough. 

These pills may be used under any circumstances 
where it is desirable to take an anodyne and expec- 
torant combined to quiet an irritating cough. 

COREECTIVE PILLS. 

Aloes and rhubarb, each one ounce; gum myrrh 
and Castile soap, each eight scruples ; ginger, four 
drachms; tart, antimony, twenty-four grains; pul- 
verize finely; mix with gum arable mucilage to a 
proper consistence for making pills, and divide into 
three hundred and sixty pills. P. S. 

No better stomach and laxative pill was ever made. 
They operate easily, without sickness, pain, or grip- 
ing. As a laxative, from two to six is a dose. These 
pills alone have cured hundreds of cases of constipa- 
tion of the bowels, proceeding from torpid liver. 
They do not debilitate. 



Dover's powder. 401 



BILIOUS PILLS. 

Take the ingredients prepared for the corrective 
pills, and add thereto three hundred and sixty grains 
of calomel, and one ounce of gum gamboge ; make 
three hundred and sixty pills. P. S. 

This makes a thorough, searching and energetic 
bilious pill, and operates as easily as any pill can that 
is as thorough and reliable as this. From two to 
four is a dose for an adult when an active cathartic 
is desired. 

ALTERATIVE POWDERS. 

Cream of tartar, six drachms ; calomel, six grains ; 
tart, antimony, one grain; mix and divide into six 
powders. P. S. 

Dover's powder, or fever powder. 

Opium, finely pulverized, one drachm ; ipecac, one 
drachm; nitrate potash (saltpetre pure), four drachms; 
pulverize and mix. This forms the regular " Dover's 
powder." But to make the Dover's powder, or fever 
powder, described in this work, take four drachms of 
gum camphor, pour upon it sufficient ether to com- 
pletely saturate it, holding it in your hand ; pulverize 
this finely and mix thoroughly with the three first 
articles. It should be kept in a close bottle. 

We have used " Dover's powders " made in no- 
other way for the last twenty years, except in some 
26 



402 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

few cases when camphor can not be taken. It is far 
superior to the common Dover's powder. P. S. 

PEEPAEATION FOE DEOPSY. 

Sulphate of iron, two scruples ; carb. potassa, one 
scruple ; spirits of nitre, three drachms ; squills, 
three drachms ; tincture opium, seventy drops ; 
essence wintergreen, half an ounce; tincture cantha- 
rides, half an ounce ; pure water, six ounces. Dose, 
a large table-spoonful, morning and evening. 

P. S. 

This is the best medicine for dropsy that I ever 
used, no matter where the water is collected. It is 
an excellent remedy for old, fleshy persons, who are 
troubled with bloating of the feet, or for any person 
who is troubled with scantiness of urine or difficulty 
in making urine. 

I had a patient, a fleshy old lady, who has kept 
this in the house for years, and takes a dose once or 
twice or more each week, as circumstances may seem 
to her to require. 

When the dropsy is in the chest, the following 
may be used with much benefit: Squills, two 
scruples ; pure sal. nitre (saltpetre), two hundred 
and fourteen grains ; calomel, ten grains ; Dover's 
powder, forty grains; mix and divide into twenty 
powders, and give one every four hours. P. S. 



DIAEEHCEA PILLS. 403 



alden's DEOPS. 



Muriate of ammonia, fifteen grains ; corrosive sub- 
limate, six grains; pure water, one ounce. Dose, 
commence with one drop three times per day, before 
meals ; increase the dose one drop per day until six 
drops are taken each time. 

This is a good alterative and promoter of absorp- 
tion in cases of " ague cake," or chronic enlargement 
of the spleen. 

DIAEEHCEA PILLS. 

Sulphate of copper, twenty grains ; opium, twenty 
grains ; mix and divide into twenty pills. Dose, one 
once in four, six, eight or twelve hours, as often as 
necessary. If they produce much nausea, the dose 
may be lessened by dividing the pills ; if they do not 
have the desired effect, the dose may be increased 
until two, or, perhaps, in obstinate cases, three may 
be taken. Three pills are calculated for chronic 
diarrhoea, in connection with tonics, and other proper 
remedies. The most severe and long-continued cases 
of camp diarrhcea have been immediately and per- 
manently cured. 

LOTION FOE SWELLING CAUSED BY A BLOW. 

Take muriate of ammonia, half an ounce ; boiling 
water, three pints ; cider vinegar, one pint. Put on 
several thicknesses of cloth wet in this solution, and 



404 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

change them as often as dry. If the part bruised is 
very painful, one ounce of laudanum may be added 
to each pint of the lotion. This should not be used 
at first while there is active inflammation ; use then 
spirits and water, say one pint of alcohol to six pints 
of water. But when the inflammation is subdued 
and the swelling left, use the lotion. 

Such swellings, caused by bruises, must never be 
opened until suppuration has completely taken place, 
and the matter has fully formed. This lotion is 
excellent for reducing any swelling where there is 
not active inflammation. It promotes absorption 
better than any other remedy, except, perhaps, 
iodine. If it produces much irritation of the skin, it 
should be made weaker by adding more water. 

PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 

Colchicum, either the powdered seeds or the tinc- 
ture, has been used for a long time for this complaint. 
Twenty drops of the tincture, two or three times per 
day, increased to thirty drops, or two grains of the 
powdered seeds, increased to ten or fifteen grains. 

Almost any stimulant will relieve palpitation ; 
ether, or spirits of any sort, may be used on the 
instant. See that the feet are warm and the circula- 
tion is equalized. Palpitation is caused sometimes 
by a sour and overloaded stomach ; this will be 
relieved immediately by a table-spoonful of strong 
pepper sauce, followed by a tea-spoonfdl of soda or 



STITCH IN BACK. 405 

saleratus, dissolved in a tumbler half full of water. 
Palpitation is often caused by debility; this is re- 
lieved by any stimulant. Persons who are troubled 
with " liver complaint " are subject to frequent turns 
of it, which often leads them to think they are the 
victims of " heart disease." It is only sympathetic ; 
when the liver performs its functions there will be no 
more palpitation. 

STITCH IN" BACK. 

This comes on instantly ; often the patient can not 
move. I have heard of its being cured by the 
patient lying down upon the floor, face down, and 
having some person tread on his back, immediately 
over the stitch, with his feet. It is sometimes cured 
immediately by pouring as much ether into the hol- 
low of the hand as can be held; then apply the hand 
suddenly, and hold it tightly over the stitch until the 
ether is all evaporated ; if one application does not 
succeed, try another. It may produce a blister, but 
that is preferable to the crick. It will wear off in a 
few days without any treatment, but it is very pain- 
ful and annoying, and it "will pay" to cure it, 
if it can be done in either of these modes. Sedg- 
wick's liniment, applied like the ether, will afford 
some relie£ 



406 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IK. 



ellmoee's DYSPEPSY PILLS. 

Take extract cicuta, Turkey rhubarb and ipecac, 
of each thirty grains ; mix and make thirty pills, one 
of which is a dose., to be taken morning and evening. 
I do not advise these pills. They have been adver- 
tised and certified as a sure cure for dyspepsy. 

Believing, as I do, that it is a symptom of a dis- 
ease, and not a disease of itself, I think it should be 
treated upon general principles, and that probably 
no two cases would require the same treatment. 

TOOTHACHE. 

When a tooth is so much decayed as to ache, it is 
generally best to have it extracted immediately ; but 
as this can not always be done, and as it is not 
proper to do it at all times, I give directions for 
treatment. If it is caused by a cold, take four to six 
grains of Dover's powder; take plenty of warm 
drink; put something warm to the feet, and also over 
the face ; cover up warm in bed, and take a sweat. 
Wet a little cotton in oil of cloves, spirits of cam- 
phor, laudanum, or Sedgwick's liniment, and fill the 
cavity, or put in a little opium or morphine, and 
cover it with a plug of cotton, or, if you wish to kill 
the nerve, put in a little kreosote, or white arsenic, 
and cover it with cotton. Holding spirits, or essence 
of peppermint, or almost any other essence, in the 
mouth, will sometimes relieve it. 



POULTICES. 407 

Toothache, according to the London Lancet, can 
be cured by the following preparation of carbolic 
acid : To one drachm of collodium add two drachms 
of Calvert's carbolic acid. A gelantinous mass is 
precipitated, a small portion of which, inserted in the 
cavity of an aching tooth, invariably gives immediate 
relief. 

ESSENCES. 

Take half an ounce of any of the oils of pepper- 
mint, cloves, wintergreen, cinnamon, spearmint, sassa- 
fras, etc. ; add one pint of good alcohol, and you 
have immediately a pure essence. The various 
essences, as sold in the drug stores, are colored with 
some coloring matter ; the only addition this makes 
is in the looks. They are more pure and better with- 
out it. 

BREAD AND MILK POULTICE. 

This poultice is made by boiling crumbs of soft 
bread and new milk together, stirring at the same 
time, until they are of the right consistence to spread 
well. It is useful for the purpose of bringing boils 
and swellings to a head. This or any other poultice 
may be made anodyne by wetting the surface with 
laudanum or sprinkling it with morphine. 

LTNSEED OR FLAX-SEED POULTICE. 

This poultice is made by mixing linseed meaL, 
made by grinding the seed with boiling water. 



408 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



CHLORINATE OF SODA POUTICE. 

This is made by adding solution of chlorinated 
soda to a flax-seed poultice. It is useful in foul ulcers. 

SLIPPERY ELM POULTICE. 

This poultice is made by adding boiling water to 
the ground bark, stirring constantly. 

CARROT POULTICE. 

This is made by boiling the root of the carrot 
until it is soft enough to form a poultice. It is used 
in fetid ulcers. 

CHARCOAL POULTICE. 

This is made by mixing finely powdered charcoal 
to any common poultice, as bread and milk, or flax- 
seed, or slippery elm. It is used as an antiseptic in 
foul ulcers. 

HEMLOCK POULTICE. 

This is made by spreading soft extract of hemlock 
on a flax-seed poultice. 

YEAST POULTICE. 

Take of wheaten flour, one pound; yeast and 
water, of each five ounces ; expose to a gentle heat, 
and use when in a fermenting state. It is an anti- 
septic, a good application in bruises, and for the 



HAIE DRESSINGS. 409 

bowels when inflamed, or to any part where there is 
danger of mortification ; in these last cases, powdered 
charcoal should be added. 

STICKING SALVE. 

Rosin, one pound ; bees-wax, two ounces ; tallow, 
one ounce ; lard, half ounce ; Venice turpentine, one 
drachm. 

The above nearly resembles a salve known a num- 
ber of years since as " Cook's Salve." It is useful 
spread upon cloth as an adhesive plaster. It is an 
excellent application for cracked hands. It is a good 
application for cows' teats when cracked. 

White pine turpentine mixed with a sufficient 
quantity of lard to make it of the right consistence 
to spread easily, is also a valuable remedy for cracked 
hands. In warm weather it should be mixed about 
equal parts, but in cold weather it will need a great 
proportion of lard. 

TO PREVENT HAIR FROM FALLING OFF. 

Castor oil, two ounces; sweet oil, one ounce; com- 
mon salt, two ounces ; alcohol, one pint. Shake every 
time you use it. Apply it once each day, rubbing it 
freely into the scalp. 



410 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



ANOTHER TO PREVENT HAIR FROM FALLING OFF, AND 
ALSO A BEAUTIFUL DRESSING. 

Castor oil, four ounces; glycerine, two ounces; 
tincture cantharides, two drachms ; oil verbena, one 
drachm ; oil bergamot, two drachms ; alcohol, nine 
ounces. Any other perfume may be used. This 
should be thoroughly rubbed in about the roots of 
the hair. 

TO MAKE A NICE HAIR DRESSING. 

Castor oil, two ounces ; sweet oil, one ounce ; oil 
of bergamot, two drachms; glycerine, one ounce; 
alcohol, enough to make one pint. You may add 
half a drachm, or one drachm, of oil verbena, if you 
like ; it will make a better perfume, or any other per- 
fume you prefer. 

CHEAP AND BEAUTIFUL HAIR DYE. 

Take one drachm crystals nitrate of silver; six 
drachms spirits hartshorn ; ten grains of tannin ; mix 
the above, let them stand a day or two, then add 
one ounce of rain-water. Shake before using. After 
wetting the hair wait two or three minutes, then rub 
it dry with a coarse cloth. It will not stain the most 
delicate fabric after once becoming dry. 



APPENDIX. 



ASSIGNMENT. 

Whereas, S. P. Sedgwick, of Wheaton, DuPage 
County, State of Illinois, did obtain Letters Patent of 
the United States, for a Prescription for Scarlet Fever, 
Diphtheria, etc., which Letters Patent bear date the 
14th day of April, A.D. 1868, and are numbered 76,832. 

And Whereas, — , of town of , in county of 

, in State of , did, on the day of 

, A. D. 18 — , purchase of said S. P. Sedgwick 

the right to use said prescription in h — family. 
f This Indenture Witnesseth, That for and in consid- 
eration of the sum of one dollar, to me in hand paid, the 
receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, I have assigned, 
sold, and set over, and do hereby assign, sell, and set 

over, unto the said , all the right, title and interest 

which I have in said invention, and secured to me by 
Letters Patent, to use in h — family, but not elsewhere, 
wherever his said family may reside in said United 
States. The same to be held and enjoyed by the said 

, for h — own use and of h — legal representatives 

to the full end of the term for which said Letters Patent 
are granted. 

In Testimony Whereof, I hereunto to set my hand 

and affix my seal this day of 18 — . 

[seal.] 

In presence of 



412 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



CERTIFICATES. 

Certificate of Parker Sedgwick, M.D. 

I certify that I have practiced medicine and surgery- 
over forty years in Oneida County, New York, and in 
DuPage County, Illinois ; that I have treated thousands 
of cases of Scarlet Fever, Typhoid Fever, and Cholera 
Infantum, and hundreds of cases of Diphtheria, and have 
never lost a case with either disease where I was the 
attending physician, unless complicated with some other 
fatal disease. Parker Sedgwick, M.D. 

Wheaton, January 1st, 1868. 

From Prominent Citizens of Bloomingdale, Du Page 

County, Illinois. 

"We certify that Parker Sedgwick, and S. P. Sedgwick, 
each practiced medicine in this town over twenty years, 
and that their success in all diseases was marked, and 
that in fevers of all kinds it was very great: We do not 
remember of either of them losing a patient with Typhoid 
Fever, Typhus Fever, Scarlet Fever, or Diphtheria, unless 
complicated with some other fatal disease, during the 
whole time. We farther believe that implicit confidence 
can be placed in what they themselves say about it. 

Josiah Stevens, Constable. 

Geo. F. Deibert, late P. M. 

John A. L. Kinne, Assessor. 

H. B. Hills, Town Clerk. 

Hiram Maynard. 

Datus H". Ellis. 

Chas. J. Schutts, Merchant. 

Hon. E. C Hills. 

C. A. Meredith, J. P. 

Bloomingdale, December 25th, 1867. 

From the Successor of Dr. S. P. Sedgwick. 

Dear Doctor: — Understanding that some of your old 
patients in this place are contemplating a testimonial as 



CERTIFICATES. 413 



to your ability as a physician and character as a gentleman, 
I can not let the opportunity pass without expressing, 
both for myself as your successor, and the many families 
in which you have been for years the attendant, the uni- 
versal esteem in which you are held by the citizens of 
this place. 

For myself, because no day passes in which I do not 
hear expressions of confidence in your attainments and 
honesty of purpose, and that from persons not by any 
means disposed to award praise when undeserved. For 
your former patrons, because there are many scattered 
over your former ride who will not be able to take any 
part in the proposed testimonial, and who yet would be 
loth to allow the opportunity to pass and not be able to 
place themselves upon record in your behalf. 

If, after so long a practice as you have enjoyed, I can 
look back upon as clean a record, I shall be both satisfied 
and proud. 

With heartfelt wishes for your continued success, I am, 
as ever, your obedient servant, 

Charles "W. Oleson, M.D. 

Bloomingdale, III., December 16th, 1867. 

From Col. P. M. Hough, Bloomingdale and Chicago. 

I have been personally acquainted with Dr. Parker 
Sedgwick, and his son, Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, for over 
twenty years, and have employed them both in my 
family. Their reputation and success as physicians have 
been unsurpassed by any in the country. I have been 
more particularly acquainted with the practice of the 
father, and have known him frequently to be successful 
in curing diseases when other eminent physicians had 
failed. P. M. Hough. 

Chicago, December 26th, 1867. 

From Hon. J. F. Farnsworth, Member of Congress, 
Second District, 111. 

I have been personally acquainted with Dr. S. P. Sedg- 
wick, of Du Page County, for ten or fifteen years, and can 
cheerfully testify that his reputation as a physician is of 



414 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



the highest order, and that his character for honor and 
integrity are beyond suspicion. J. F. Farnsworth. 

From Gen. B. J. Sweet, former Commandant of Camp 
Douglas, at Chicago, Illinois. 

I am personally acquainted with Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, 
of Du Page County, Illinois, and know that he has the 
confidence of the community in which he has resided for 
the last twenty years as a man of integrity, and as a 
physician whose practice has been attended with great 
skill and success. B. J. Sweet. 

Lombard, III., October 13th, 1868. 

Certificate of Dr. W. W. Sedgwick. 

I studied medicine with Parker Sedgwick, M.D., over 
twenty years ago. I knew his treatment of Scarlet Fever, 
Cholera Infantum, Typhoid and Typhus Fevers, and used 
it in constant practice for over ten years. With it I have 
found those diseases as curable as measles or intermit- 
tent fever. W. W. Sedgwick, M.D. 

This will certify that Dr. S. P. Sedgwick has been my 
family physician for seventeen years. I have nine chil- 
dren who have been subject to all the diseases incident 
to such families, and have lost none. 1 would cheerfully 
recommend him as a successful practitioner of medicine, 
worthy of the confidence of all who require a physician. 

H. S. Hills. 

Bloomingdale, III., December 16th, 1868. 

From Hon. H. C. Childs, Member of the 24th and 25th 
General Assembly of the State of Illinois, for DuPage 
County. 

Having had some years' acquaintance with Dr. S. P. 
Sedgwick, and knowledge of his successful practice, I 
most cordially bear witness to his ability to treat upon 
the laws of health, and recommend any publication of 
his upon disease or its remdies to the careful perusal of 
all those who need light upon these subjects. 

H. C. Childs. 

Wheaton, October 12th, 1868. 



CERTIFICATES. 415 

From an old resident of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois. 

This certifies that I have been acquainted with Dr. S. 
P. Sedgwick for about fifteen years. He has often been 
called into our neghborhood to attend patients supposed 
to be past help by other physicians, and by the neigh- 
bors. I never knew him to lose a patient in this neigh- 
borhood, nor did I ever hear of his losing a patient of 
Typhoid Fever, Diphtheria, or Cholera Infantum. 

I believe the work he is preparing for family use will 
be of incalculable value to those who are so fortunate as 
to procure a copy. M. S. Johnson. 

Palatine, January 8th, 1868. 

From L. W. Van Doren, M.D., Ottawa, Illinois. 

S. P. Sedgwick — Dear Sir: Yours of the 13th has just 
come to hand, and contents noted. 

I will give you a short statement in regard to the suc- 
cess I have had in the treatment of Malignant Scarlet 
Fever and Diphtheria. In the summer of '63, the Malig- 
nant Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria broke out in the 
public school at East Paw Paw in a very fatal form. 
The first patient I treated lived only fifteen hours. 
After death I called thirteen physicians, and we held a 
post-mortem examination, without arriving at any particu- 
lar advantage. After that I treated one hundred and 
seventy-three cases ; with all the advice I could obtain 
from authors and physicians, I lost seventeen of my 
patients. In the meantime I became perfectly discour- 
aged. I then went to consult a celebrated physician, 
who advertised to cure the disease. I was soon convinced 
that his remedy (a secret one), would not do to depend 
upon, for I learned that many who used it died. I then 
went to Aurora and consulted with some of the most 
eminent physicians of that place, without receiving any 
new theory or treatment. 

A gentleman who was accidentally present, informed 
me that your father treated the disease upon a different 
theory and was successful, and advised me to visit him. 
After convincing myself of your father's standing, I 
went to see him with something of the feeling of 



416 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



despair, for I was fearful that my patients were destined 
to die without a suitable remedy. When I arrived at 
your father's house, I found him just ready to leave 
home to visit a patient. I made known to him my 
business. He invited me to remain until his return, 
when he would give me all the light he could upon the 
subject. I did so, and enjoyed my visit with him much, 
for it seemed to me I had at last found a remedy for the 
fatal disease, and so it proved. He sent me a treatise in 
writing on the subject. I believe it has been the means 
in the hands of Providence of saving much suffering 
and many lives. In fact, I did not lose another patient 
in East Paw Paw, nor since that time, unless they were 
in a dying condition when I was called. During a con- 
stant practice of four years in Pecatonica, I had many 
violent cases, and did not lose a single patient. I believe 
if it is used in time, it will save every patient afflicted 
with those terrible diseases. It operates like a charm, 
relieving the patient immediately. I also used the same 
treatment successfully in three cases of membranous 
croup. For proof of my successful treatment of those 
diseases, I would refer you to Rev. Edward Dada, 
pastor of the Congregational Church, and Rev. Mr. 
Hewit, Pecatonica, 111., Rev. Q. L. Wiley, Harvard, 111., 
and numerous residents of Pecatonica. Believing this 
remedy is perfectly reliable, if used in time, I would 
recommend its use by all practicing physicians. 

Truly yours, L. W. Van Doren, M.D. 

From Rev. G. L. Wiley, Pastor Methodist Church. 

S. P. Sedgwick, M.D., Dear Sir : Your note requesting 
my testimonial respecting the practice of Dr. L. W. Yan 
Doren in his treatment in the following diseases : Diph- 
theria, Malignant Sore Throat, Measles, Scarlatina and 
Typhoid Fever, is before me, and I now hasten to 
answer it. 

I am happy to say, after three years of the most inti- 
mate acquaintance with Dr. L. W. Yan Doren, and his 
practice as my family physician, that his treatment and 
remedies for the above named diseases are invaluable, 



CEETIFICATES. 417 



and have wrought almost miraculous cures in cases 
given up by other physicians. I am happy to recom- 
mend, especially as a providential discovery and infal- 
lible cure, the remedy for Diphtheria, Putrid Sore Throat, 
and all other kindred diseases. My little boy, six years 
old, was severely attached with Scarlet Fever, and was 
restored almost as if by charm. He was also attacked 
by Typhoid Pneumonia, and all that saw him pro- 
nounced him beyond recovery, yet under the blessing of 
God and the above named remedy, he was perfectly 
restored. I can heartily recommend to all who may be 
afflicted with these terrible diseases your invaluable 
remedy. I could not sleep quietly without a package of 
it in my house. With it and the blessing of God I do 
not fear Diphtheria. Hoping that you may have abundant 
success, I am, indeed, your obedient servant, 

G. L. "Wiley. 
Harvard, III., Jan. 15, 1868. 

Certificate of Rev. E. P. Dada, Pastor of the Congrega- 
tional Church, Pecatonica, Winnebago Co., Ills. 

Dr. Sedgwick — Dear Sir : I have received your letter, 
and am glad to have the privilege of certifying to Dr. 
Van Doren's success in such diseases as Diphtheria, 
Scarlet Fever, etc. He has treated the Diphtheria in my 
own family and in other families. And I do not think 
he lost a single case (if called in season) during his prac- 
tice here of over three years. I can truly certify that it 
is the only remedy that can be relied upon for the cure 
of such diseases. The Doctor told me it was your father 
who gave him the recipe. Aside from my wishes for 
your personal interest, I consider myself in the discharge 
of a duty to the public in recommending to them the 
use of your invaluable medicine for the cure of Diph- 
theria, Scarlet Fever, and other diseases of a like form, 
as prescribed by Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, and I think no 
family should be without the remedy. 

Yours truly, E. P. Dada. 

Pecatonica, Jan. 28, 1868. 
27 



418 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

From Prof. Elliot Whipple, Principle of the Academic 
Department of Wheaton College. 

This is to certify that I have read carefully and with 
much interest the manuscript of a book by Drs. P. and 
S. P. Sedgwick, entitled, " The House We Live in : How 
to Keep it in Order," 

It gives an accurate description of the " ills that flesh is 
heir to," with the best remedies therefor, in plain, com- 
mon-sense English, without using puzzling technicalities, 
and thus enables a person of ordinary intelligence to 
understand and treat successfully common diseases with- 
out calling in a doctor. 

It gives valuable hints in regard to sending for a 
physician (when this last resort becomes necessary), and 
exposes many of the humbugs and tricks practiced both 
by quacks and regular physicians, and shows up the 
methods of deceiving the public, which even honest 
doctors think it necessary to make use of, in order to 
keep up their reputation. I consider it the most neces- 
sary and valuable book that a family, liable to the dis- 
eases of the West, can purchase. Elliot Whipple, 
Principal Academic Dept, Wheaton College. 

Wheaton, III., Oct. 8, 1868. 

We, the undersigned, county officers of DuPage 
county, in the State of Illinois, do most cheerfully give 
testimony to the fact that Parker Sedgwick and Sherman 
P. Sedgwick, who are old residents of said county, have 
and maintain a very high standing and reputation as 
practicing physicians and surgeons, and as men whose 
characters for integrity and honorable dealing are above 
suspicion, and we cordially recommend them as gentle- 
men in whose statements the public may safely place 
confidence.; S. F. Daniels, Co. Judge. 

F. J. T. Fischer, Co. Clerk. 

W. M. Whitney, Circuit Clerk. 

Dan. N. Gross, Co. Treasurer. 

C. W. Richmond, Co. Superintendent. 

Phil. Strubler, Sheriff. 

J. M. Valette, Co. Surveyor. 
Naperville, Dec. 27th, 1867. 



CEKTLFICATES. 419 



I certify that I have known Parker Sedgwick, M.D., 
by reputation for more than twenty years, and I fully 
concur in the statement made above in reference to him 
by the county officers of DuPage county, and that I 
have, during said time, been personally acquainted with 
Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, and upon terms of intimacy with 
him, and from my own knowledge said statement is true 
as to him. I further state that some ten years ago he 
prescribed for my son, who had suffered from Epilepsy 
for many years, and that he was perfectly cured by said 
prescription, and I am informed and believe that the 
same prescription has cured every case of Epilepsy in 
which it has been used. Jas. J. Hunt, 

Late Sheriff of DuPage Co., 111. 

Napervtlle, Dec. 27, 1868. 

Dr. S. P. Sedgwick, Wheaton, 111. 

My Dear Sir : I have just been informed that you con- 
template publishing in plain English, a work giving the 
symptoms and proper treatment of all ordinary diseases. 
Having known you for the last twenty-five years, I 
rejoice that you have concluded to make public the 
manner in which you have treated Fevers, including 
Scarlet Fever, Diphtheria, Cholera Infantum, etc., etc., 
with such astonishing success. 

There is no person within my acquaintance better 
qualified- to write upon or give instruction in such mat- 
ters. Allow me to say that I believe you could confer 
no greater benefit upon your fellow-beings, or leave to 
the world at large a greater legacy than you would by 
publishing such a work. It would be a necessity in 
every household, and be the means of relieving much 
distress, and saving thousands of the lives of our fellow- 
beings. Yours truly, 

E. F. Colby, Attorn ey-at-Law. 

Office, 134 LaSalle Street. 

Dr. S. P. Sedgwick — Dear Sir: I am glad to hear 
that you are about to publish a work, in the English lan- 
guage,, upon (Jisease and its proper treatment. Knowing 
your extraordinary success in treating disease, I deem it 



420 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



a pleasant duty to advise every body, who would know the 
truth about medicine, to purchase a copy of your book. 
It can not fail to be of great value to the human race. 
Yery respectfully yours, "W". F. Johnson. 

Moreison, III., June 23rd, 1868. 

The undersigned, citizens of ISTaperville, Illinois, who 
have known Parker Sedgwick, and Sherman P. Sedg- 
wick, personally and b}^ reputation for more than fifteen 
years, as practicing physicians and surgeons, do cheer- 
fully recommend them to the public as men not only 
of skill and science, but of known probity and integrity, 
in whose personal and professional statements and repre- 
sentations the public may safely confide. 

"Willard Scott, Banker and Merchant. 
H. H. Cody, late County Judge. 
C. M. Castle, late County Clerk. 



INDEX. 



A. 

PAGE. 

Astonishment of Physicians that people buy Patent Medicines 27 

Allen, John 142 

Angina Pectoris 169 

Asthma 175 

" treatment of 177 

Apoplexy 183 

Abortion 233 

Alkalies and their Salts 355 

Arsenic 360 

Alterative Tonic and Expectorant Syrup 383 

Alterative Wash, No. 1 393 

" No.2 393 

" No. 3 393 

Antimonial Ointment , 394 

Alterative Eye Wash 397 

Alterative Powders 403 

Alden's Drops 403 

B. 

Baconian System 41 

Bible Directions 43 

Bone-Setters 52 

Beef Tea 63 

Beef Broth 64 

Bread Coffee 65 

" 273 

Bile, Redundancy of 148 

" Stoppage of 149 

Bilious Colic 190 

Burns and Scalds 215 

Bath, Warm 230 

Bleeding from the Womb 254 

Between Mother and Child 259 

Boils 310 

Broken Bones 341 

Bruises 343 

Bleeding Wounds 347 

" at the Nose 348 

« " " byP.S 349 

" " Bowels 349 

Bitters, Cascarilla 384 

" for Colic 384 



422 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 



C. 

PA8B 

Consultations, Private 21 

Children should be educated in Medicine 27 

Cost of Patent Medicines 29 

Creator makes Good Physicians 37 

Clay for Sore Eyes 46 

Chicken Broth and Chicken Tea 64 

Corn Starch Gruel 65 

Corn Coffee 66 

Cooling Drinks 67 

Cough, Whooping , 179 

Coughs 350 

" Remedies for 351 

" Elixir 392 

" Emulsion . .... 398 

" Pills, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 399 

" Piles, simple . 400 

Colic 189 

" Bilious 190 

" Painters' 191 

" Liver 192 

Cholera, Asiatic 206 

" " Treatment of. 208 

" " " by Dr. Delaney 211 

Cholera Morbus 213 

Cow-pox.. 228 

Chicken-pox 229 

Caked Breasts 245 

Convulsions . 267 

Croup 275 

Croup, Membranous 276 

Spasmodic 278 

Cholera Infantum 279 

« " Treatment 280 

C arbuncle 310 

Cancer 311 

Cracked Lips , 311 

Corns 314 

Cling Nails 317 

Chilblain 318 

Consumption 320 

Case of. 322 

" 2nd Case of. 324 

3rd " 325 

" 4th " 327 

5th " 328 

Case by S. P. S 330 

2nd Case by S. P. S 333 

Catarrh 336 

Chronic , 339 

Cuts 343 

Cascarilla Bitters 384 

Colic or Wind Bitters 384 



index. 423 



PAGE. 

Cure for Chronic Rheumatism 386 

Common Liniment 394 

Camphorated Oil , ... 396 

Camphor Ice 396 

Chapped Hands 396 

Chafed Places 396 

Corrective Pills 400 

D. 

Dedication 3 

Diphtheria 15 

Dead Language used 21 

Doctros protect each other 22 

Dr. Jayne and his Remedies •. 23 

Diphtheria 32 

274 

Dr. Van Doren 32 

Diet for the Sick 63 

Disease of the General Health 159 

" Case of. 162 

Dyspepsy 161 

Pills 406 

Delirium Tremens 166 

Dance, St. Vitus' 181 

Diabetes 197 

Caseof 197 

Diarrhoea 200 

Chronic, Case of 201 

of Children 269 

" Severe Case of. 285 

Pills 403 

Diseases of the Skin 220 

" Pregnancy 235 

Children 268 

Delicacy 235 

Dressing Infants 259 

Dysentery of Children 270 

Dropsy 288 

Dewees' Tincture 397 

Dover's Powder 401 

E. 

Eclectics 42 

Effects of Locality upon Disease 60 

Easy Chair 62 

Erysipelas 125 

Epidemic 126 

" " Stimulants in 127 

Epilepsy 184 

Case of. 185 

" 2nd Case of .186 

" 3rd " 186 



424 THE HOUSE WE LIVE. 

Page. 

Epilepsy, New and successful treatment of 187 

Earache 266 

Elixir of Ipecac 275 

Eye Water 398 

Elhnore's Dyspepsy Pills 406 



F. 

Fifty Years' Practice 31 

Fever 69 

" Intermittent 70 

■' Remittent 71 

" " Treatment of. 71 

" Typhoid 75 

" Typhus 76 

" " Case of nearly killed 79 

" Scarlet 81 

" " Cause 82 

" Misplaced Intermittent 84 

" Yellow 87 

" Nervous 88 

" Child-bed 238 

Fluor Albus 257 

Falls, Blows, and Hurts on the Head 282 

Felons . . 313 

Fainting 352 

Fever Powder 401 

Fractures 341 



a 

Good Physician described 28 

" Rule in employing Doctors 52 

Gelatine 66 

Gout 138 

Gall Stones 149 



H. 

Hand of Fellowship 22 

Hydropathy, or Water-Cure 47 

Homoeopathy 49 

Hints in regard to choosing a Physician 54 

Hysterics 165 

Headache, Sick 172. 

Hints to Parents in reference to Boys 291 

Horse Radish Plaster 395 

Hair Tonic 409 

" 410 

" Dressing 410 

" Dye 410 



INDEX. 425 

I. 

Page. 

Incontinence of Urine 170 

Inflammatory Diseases 90 

Inflammation of the Head 90 

" " Eyes 91 

" " " Chronic 93 

" " " " Case of. 93 

" " Lungs 98 

" " " and Pleurisy 108 

" " Bowels 109 

" " " Caseof 110 

« " " " 112 

" " Stomach 113 

" " Bladder 115 

" " Kidneys 136 

Influenza 336 

Caseof. ...337 

Iodide of Potassium 382 

Itch 390 

J. 

Jaundice 153 

" Treatment of 153 

L. 

Lumbago 129 

Liver, Diseases of. 140 

" Torpor of 141 

" " Interesting Case of 141 

" Abscess of 150 

" Inflammation of 151 

" Complete want of action in 155 

" Complaint, Case of. 157 

Lockjaw 168 

Liver Colic 192 

Lacing 351 

Liniment, Sedgwick's 384 

" Common 394 

Liver Pills 397 

Lotion for Swelling caused by Bruises 403 

M. 

Money-making Physician 30 : 

Medical Journals 32 

Miscellaneous Doctors 50 

Misplaced Intermittent 84 

Mumps 135 

Measles 221 

Sequel of. 223 

Milk Leg 239 



426 THE HOUSE WE LIVE EST. 

Page. 

Monthly Turns, Painful 255 

" " Obstructed 256 

Membranous Croup 276 

Medicamentum 384 

Mustard Plasters 395 

N. 

Nursing the Sick 61 

Nightmare 180 

Neuralgia 193 

Case of 193 

Nettle Rash 230 

Nursing Sore Mouth. 241 

" Caseof 241 

" " " " 242 

« « <t u ^ 244 

Nipples, Sore 245 

Nitro-Muriatic Acid Bath 257 

" " " 394 

Nose-Bleed 348 

ByS. P. S 349 

Number Six 388 

P. 

Pulse 57 

Pleurisy , 98 

Caseof. 100 

" " with Typhus Fever 102 

" " " Typhoid " 103 

" " " Bilious " 104 

" Sequel of. 105 

" " Another 106 

Palpitation of the Heart 152 

" " " 199 

Pain in the Breast 169 

Painter's Colic 192 

" " Treatment 192 

Palsy 195 

Pox, Cow 228 

" Chicken 229 

Pregnancy, Signs of. 232 

" Diseases of 235 

" Sick Stomach in. 236 

Puerperal, or Child-Bed Fever 238 

Prolapsus of the "Womb, Case of * 248 

Painful Menstruation 255 

Position of Children in Sleep 261 

Pins never to be used about Children 266 

Piles 308 

" Sedgwick's Liniment in 309 

Poisons and their Antidotes 353 

" Alkalies 355 



INDEX. 427 

Page. 

Poisons, Earths and Compounds * 356 

Alcohol 356 

" Volatile Oils :.. 357 

" Gasses 358 

" Iodine 359 

" Metals 359 

" Arsenic 360 

" Bismuth 361 

" Copper 362 

" Gold 363 

" Iron 363 

" Lead 364 

" Mercury 365 

" SilverandTin 366 

Pills, Cough 399 

" Corrective 400 

" Bilious 401 

Preparation for Dropsy 402 

Palpitation of the Heart 404 

Poultices 407 

408 

" PainKillers 389 

Q. 

Quinine, a Sublime Medicine 85 

" Bitters 393 

R. 

Rheumatism 117 

Caseof. 118 

" Inflammatory, Case of. 121 

Treatment by S. P. S 124 

" Sciatic 128 

" " Caseof 130 

" Whatislt? 131 

" Chronic 132 

" " Treatment of. 133 

Remedyfor 386 

Rhubarb Syrup 386 

Raw Places 396 

Roseola 224 

S. 

Stimulating Nourishment for weak Persons 67 

St. Vitus' Dance 181 

Skin, Diseases of. 220 

Small Pox 225 

" Modified 227 

Signs of Pregnancy 232 

Sick Stomach in Pregnancy 236 

Sore Mouth, Nursing 241 

Sore Nipples 243 

Swelled Breast 245 

Soinal Affection 246 



428 THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN, 

Page 

Sores Behind the Ears 26? 

Sunstroke 293 

Scurvy 304 

Sore or Cracked Lips 311 

Swelled Neck 312 

Sweating Feet 318 

Swelled Knee 322 

Spitting Blood 335 

Sprains , 342 

Stopping Blood 347 

Sarsaparilla Syrup 382 

Syrup, Alterative and Tonic 383 

Sedgwick's Liniment 385 

Scrofulous Plaster 388 

Stitch in Back 405 

Sticking Salve 409 

Salt Rheum. 389 

Scald Head 391 

T. 

Tongue, Condition in Disease 59 

Thompsonian Practice 118 

Tincture Cantharides for "Whites 257 

Turpentine Pills 258 

Treatment of Children 260 

Teething . . 263 

Tight Lacing 351 

Tooth Ache 406 

" " New Treatment 407 

U. 

Urine, Incontinence of. 170 

" Retention of 181 

Ulcers 306 

V. 

"Vaccination 228 

Venereal Disease „ 306 

W. 

Wine 45 

Water as a Remedy 47 

Western Diseases 61 

Wine Whey 66 

Water Gruel 64 

Whooping Cough 179 

Warm Bath 230 

Whites 257 

Weaning Infants 285 

Worms 297 

" Symptoms of. 300 

Whitlow 313 

Warts 316 

Y. 
Young Doctors t 42 



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